


Ataraxia | Volturi Kings

by MightyWallJericho



Series: Bloodlines Universe [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:35:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27886885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyWallJericho/pseuds/MightyWallJericho
Summary: The bright and shining girl that was named Astraea found her way into the world on March 19th, 1988. Her birthplace being none other than Volterra, Italy, the up and coming girl found her place in the seaside city filled with haunting ideas of the vampires the residents they thought expelled centuries prior. That day of celebration was not only for her birth, but for the man that her fellow people thought saved them.In a web of lies and deceit, what will this girl do when she realizes the truth about the supposed kings of Volterra and the new world that they have to offer her?
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Alec (Twilight)/Jane (Twilight)/Original Male Character(s), Aro (Twilight)/Caius (Twilight)/Marcus (Twilight)/Original Character(s), Aro (Twilight)/Original Female Character(s), Aro/Caius/Marcus (Twilight), Athenodora/Didyme/Sulpicia (Twilight), Caius (Twilight)/Original Female Character(s), Demetri (Twilight)/Original Male Character(s), Demetri/Felix (Twilight), Harry Potter/Original Male Character(s), Hermione Granger/Original Female Character(s), Jasper Hale/Original Female Character(s), Marcus (Twilight)/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Bloodlines Universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997563
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**For the first five days** of my life I had parents, from then on I was nothing but an orphaned child who needed somewhere to call home. This fact didn’t bother me, but I would have liked to have had some more time with the people who would have loved me unconditionally.

During the first three years of my life I lived with my grandmother, who was old and frail by the time of my unexpected birth. Neither my mother or my father told her that they were expecting a child, let alone a child who would have led to the death of her own mother due to complications associated with childbirth. Even through the shock of her only daughter, she pushed on in order to keep me safe. While my memories of her had long since faded to near nothingness, I did remember the sound of her voice, a calming chant as she sang me lullabies before bedtime.

After my fourth birthday and my grandmother’s funeral, I had gone off to live with one of my uncles, the second oldest son of said grandmother. With two young children of his own, my uncle had a hard time paying for all three of us. Living with my cousins made life hectic, myself not knowing how sibling or familial social hierarchies worked. I would have to wait until my seventh birthday to understand the great importance of a ruler and a knife when splitting your Halloween candy bar for dessert on the weekends.

It was at that 10th birthday march through our town that I realized how magnificent the Saint Marcus Day festival really was. Adorned with a red cloak of my own that my uncle had purchased for me as the first birthday gift I had gotten since my fourth birthday, my two cousins and I made our way out to see the beautiful seas of maroon that flooded the streets.

Ever since that day I made sure that during my birthday I came out of the shadows of poverty and shyness to meet the sunrise and sunsets of the festival. Ambrose and Astro, my two younger cousins, always made sure to join me in the festivities, causing trouble that only identical twins could.

Today would be my seventh Saint Marcus Day birthday. The skies of Volterra were a cloudy prismarine, sharply contrasting the carmine that roamed about on the ground.

“Come on, Stray, you have to come to the  _ good  _ parts of the festival,” Astro beckons me to come forward and stay out of the shadows. “The light is pretty on your stupidly pale skin. Plus, vampires can’t go in the sun. I wonder why that is.”

“Vampires have been expelled, bro,” Ambrose plopped down from one of the mossy trees in the park, “What are they gonna do? Bite us? I doubt if they were here they would expose themselves to a festival of people celebrating their  _ demise  _ and  _ eradication _ from Volterra. That would just be suicide. I bet other vampires would find and kill them before they even got the  _ chance. _ We’re safe.”

“Do you really think they could be here still?” I laugh at the obvious question.

“Astro, lesser twin, I doubt they ever left. Knowing how sneaky they must be, they have to be here somewhere,” he laughed, “Wherever you are, vampy wampies, you can’t get us. Don’t risk the senseless exposure, immortal  _ babies _ !”

Finishing taunting the non-existent bloodsuckers, my cousin grabbed my arm and pulled me into the crowd. Letting out a startled screech, I get pushed further and further into the crowd of people.  _ Don’t worry, Stray, this is good. You love the festival. God, you hate the people. Why do I have to be near so many people? This is how disease gets spread. Why do I have to be Italian? _

“Shy already, dear cousin?” Ambrose snarks. My voice turns to an annoyed growl as my body flies through the mess of people shambling through the streets of our home city. “Seven years and you haven’t gotten used to the people of the festival? The whole point of a festival is to have people, old hag!”

“Our big cousin still doesn’t know the pleasure of human interaction,” Astro yells through the crowd, his feet skipping to the sounds of the drums and hums of the orchestra running through.  _ Humanity has not been the kindest to me, baby cousin, you know that. _

“Fear will only get you so far, Astraea, for now just enjoy the music and let yourself feel the sun on your face. The fanged losers can’t do that now that they have taken death by the reins and screwed that man royally,” Ambrose’s humor would forever be one of my favorite things about him. Finding humor in the smallest things, such a rare quality of human nature.

Tuning out the ludicrous ideas of vampires being in Volterra, I allow myself to do just as Ambrose told, sensing the sweltering sun on my pale face.  _ Please don’t let me get a sunburn. Not on my birthday. No sunburns on my birthday please. Oh, who am I kidding, I’ll get burnt even if I ask whatever can hear people’s thoughts to not give me one. _

With no fears I pick up the pace, racing with my two cousins through the stunning crowd of citizens that gathered here every year from all over Italy.

The Saint Marcus Day festival was our only big event. Other than that, Volterra was nothing but a tourist location for Americans and other Europeans to gawk at the seaside while not spending too much money on hotels. On any other day, you could see people go into the clock tower. Many said the place was haunted, but I just thought some crazy cultists lived there, always wearing their black cloaks and only leaving during the nights.

“What do you think is in the clock tower? We haven’t ever been there,” Astro lets out a loud sigh at his brother’s question.  _ Weird people live there, Ambrose, really weird people. You don’t want to be near weird people. Hell, they could be the damn vampires that you think still live here. _

“Ooh, what if the  _ vampires _ are in there,” I say, laughing at the mere idea, “Hiding in plain sight would be the best bet for them, wouldn’t it be? Think about it, scampering off during the night to do their vampire duties, nobody would notice because they’re asleep. Do vampires sleep? I mean, if they don’t age they must not have other functions that a human body would have. No sleep, no breathing, just sucking the life out of people.”

Letting out chuckles of their own, my younger cousins helped me over a stone wall that would lead us to the back of the clock tower that had been here for at least five hundred years, engraved in the history of Volterra itself. The place held culture that only locals could truly understand. We all knew that mysteries lurked within and many even barred their children from going anywhere near the marble floors of the ancient building that held even older artifacts and paintings.

The clock tower of Volterra was a historical goldmine within itself, some of the walls original and the gold that lined the inside pure and withstanding even after all of these centuries of life. Death had plagued the walls at some point, but I hoped that it was an omen of death no longer, finding its own sense of harmony within the bustling seaside city.

Hurdling ourselves over those stone walls, my cousins and I found ourselves in a good place to sit down, close enough to the tower that we could see some of the intricate details in the framework of the building. Lined with hard stone pillars, the tower was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen in my hometown, and I had been all over the city, finding myself exploring during my free time. What else was there to do while your guardians are at work? Quite literally nothing.

Cracking my knuckles, I pick up one of the twigs and start to fiddle with it, cracking the wood and throwing it on the ground. I had bored myself already, wishing for something more entertaining to do than ruining nature.

“What are we supposed to do now? It’s too hot to be back at the parades and father told us we can’t go into the clock tower,” Astro whined, laying down on the concrete, rolling his eyes at my uncle’s previous command. “We can’t just camp it out here for the rest of the day.”

“I guess we could break the rules and go into the clock tower,” Ambrose suggested, “What’s life without some risk anyways?”

“Safe,” Astro retorts, “Father will kill us if he finds out we got this close, let alone inside of the damn thing. Unless you’re willing to cover for us here, he’s going to find out. You know Stray can’t lie like the two of us.”

“Lying isn’t a good habit to have,” I say with confidence, “The fact that you two lie to your father about where we have been is not something to be proud of or flaunt around senselessly. As the older cousin I must remind you that you are technically under my care while we are at this event.”

“Just cause’ you’re an old hag doesn’t mean that you can boss us around,” I scowl at the remark, “You haven’t ever done anything to stop us from lying to father either. You’re no better than us, Stray. Admit it, you don’t care that much.”

“I do care, I’m just not a snitch.”

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

After about thirty minutes of sitting there in silence Ambrose stood up, having had enough of the deadbeat silence in our group that contrasted the loud parade we had come from and could still hear off in the distance.

“If we don’t start to do something fun in the next five minutes I am going to lose it, you guys,” I understood where he was coming from, the feelings of near insanity reaching me as well. Sitting and silence were two things that us Angelos’ could not handle whatsoever, often finding ourselves screaming in order to evade the deafening quiet in a room. That was, of course, a last case scenario and had only happened on a few rare occasions of mental breakdowns that could not be avoided when you live in a crammed two bedroom house with five people living inside.

“God, let’s just break father’s stupid rule, I need some fun in my life. I’ll take the fall for this one,” Astro shook his head before getting up as well, stumbling a bit before finally gaining a hold on his stance. “I mean, it’s not like he can find out if we lie about it. Don’t worry, old hag, you won’t have to lie to our old man. Leave the falsification to the experts.”

Groaning at the idea of their lying lives, I decide that it would be best not to harass them further on their own integrity. If they wanted to be honest people, they would be. All I could do is tell them that it isn’t okay and move on with my life, keeping them as safe as possible while they got themselves into trouble. It was the job of an older cousin indeed.

With the festival still going on in the background, we walked closer and closer to the clock tower, finding ourselves in one of the many dark alleyways of the city. We had been in these winding alleys so many times that I could safely say that I knew them all by heart, always being able to find my way out of one if need be.

Almost at the tower, I felt an eerie presence behind the three of us, almost tempting me to walk towards it.  _ What is this pull? No, we can’t go over there. Talking to strangers during a parade is stupid. Getting kidnapped would be the worst thing to happen to me since seventh grade science class. _

“The hell is that?” Ambrose questions the two of us, puzzled by the temptation to go closer to whatever that shadow behind us was. “Get the hell away from us, you pedo, we’re fucking kids and we cannot consent to whatever you want to do to us.”

“Language,” I reprimand, “Don’t be rude. Sir, ma’am, we are going to have to ask you to leave us alone. We do not know who you are or what you want, but you seem to be heading away from the festivities.”

“Stray, we don’t have to be nice when some random person that looks like a shadow is sneaking up on us like we’re some sort of prey. What the hell are you, some damn vampire? Go away, vampy boy, go in the sun and get slaughtered by the people you-” Now standing in front of us, I could see the man’s red eyes.

Red eyes.  _ Vampire. Oh god, he’s really a vampire. We’re going to die! _

Giving my cousin a smirk, he grabs his arm and takes a bite out of it, causing Ambrose to let out a shriek of terror and likely pain as the man moves away from him.

“You  _ vampire _ ,” Astro tries to grab Ambrose, but the vampire throws me into one of the walls before doing the same thing he did to his twin, biting his arm and leaving him. Left screaming, I watched in horror as my cousins painfully fell to the floor, clutching at their arms.

That vampire looked at me and smirked. “It will be fun to see what happens to you. Friends turning into the beasts that you so fear. What will you do, little girl? You wouldn’t hurt your little twins, even if they turn into killing machines. Oh, how the Volturi will love to see them. To turn you or to not turn you, that really is the question of the century. Such beauty from a human, but I think letting them kill you will be the greatest show I have ever laid witness to. How they will rip you apart.”

“Volturi,” I remember, “The family inside of the clock tower.”

“Smart little girl,” he says, “What a shame that you will have to die.”

Looking at my younger cousins, I choke out a half sob, not wanting to show weakness in front of the much stronger man. Scowling up at him one last time, I grab the arms of the identical twins and pull them away from the alley. The dark haired vampire laughed as I pulled their entire weight, almost dragging them along the dirty concrete floors.

_ Vampires are still here. They will know what to do. This is so stupid. I shouldn’t be going into the tower potentially full of vampires! Damnit, vampire bite. A vampire bite means that they’re turning! Other vampires would know what to do. Would they even help a human with turning cousins? Are there laws against the exposure of vampires to humans? We don’t hear about them anymore. Just stay with me, you two idiots, I love you too much to lose you. _

“Stray, it  _ burns, _ ” Ambrose whined out.

“I know, I know, baby, we need to make it to the tower and then we’ll be fine,” I attempt to console the brown haired boy, but he chokes out a sob in response, tears streaming down his face from the unimaginable pain in his body. “Damnit, does work around here? I see guard-like people around sometimes but they must be inside. Can you pull yourselves inside or am I going to have to pull you guys?”

“Pull,” Astro choked out, “Most definitely pull.”

Nodding, I grip onto their wrists tighter, dragging them along the floor. We were lucky that we decided to take the back way in, or everyone from the festival would have seen them, bloody and with a vampire bite. It would have been anarchy in the streets.

Finally making our way into the doors, I hiss as Ambrose digs his nails into my flesh, causing some blood to pool around the wound.  _ Shit, vampires and blood. They might smell me-us here. My blood could set them off into biting me as well. I don’t want to turn into a vampire on my seventeenth birthday! _

“What is the commotion?” A dark skinned man asks us, “Blood on both of you. You should be at the parades-”

“He’s been bit. I know, okay, I know what you are and one of you bit my cousins,” I try to explain, my voice quick and frantic, “Some red-eyed guy just comes up to us in an alleyway and bites the two of them. He didn’t even try to kill them! He just bit them, threatened me, and let us leave.”

“You came into a den of vampires knowing that you could be killed. Why?” he asks, checking the twin’s wounds, “It is too late to take out the venom as it has already spread to most of their bloodstream. They will turn into immortals. I am sorry, child.”

“I knew that you would know what to do with them. Vampires like yourself must stay together. Frankly I have no idea how to take care of a vampire, let alone two,” I say, understanding now that this may be the last time I get to see the two of them. Hell, this might be my last day on the planet. “How long will it take for them to turn? Does it always hurt this much? What will you do about the other vampire?”

“Three days, yes, and we will conduct a trial. This is not normal, human woman, we do not go around turning people like this, especially on Saint Marcus Day,” he looks up at me, his red eyes flashing with curiosity, “How did you find us? Humans are not supposed to know of our existence. It is against the law.”

“He said Volturi, I put two and two together,” the man lets out a chuckle, “It can’t be that hard. Context clues are everywhere.”

“Most are not good at  _ context clues _ . It seems that we rely on human stupidity,” the man ushers me deeper inside the building, “My masters will need to see you. This kind of exposure is not allowed at all. You may have a better chance at survival, human, as you sound like one of the locals of this ancient city. The kings are fond of them, often allowing the rules to slide for certain families. It is your best bet to mind your tongue and impress them or they’ll-”

“Kill me, they’ll kill me,” the man sighs and nods.

“It’s the way that it has to be. You either turn or you die, child, we must keep ourselves safe. If you know the history of this city you know that vampire on human relations are not and have never been civil. We are two species, often at war with one another, and coexistence has failed us many times.”

“They say that you all left, Saint Marcus Day-”

“Is a scam, I know. One of our leaders was considered a saint because he chased away a bunch of rogue vampires once,” I nod, “I should warn you that-”

“What in the actual hell is going on here,” I heard somebody say. Cocking my head up, I could see a raven-haired man walking straight for us, a worried expression plastering his face. “Santiago, why is there  _ blood _ ? The smell is-”

Cutting himself off, he takes a good look at me, his eyes almost in a trance as he stops dead in his tracks, a small smile on his face. His expression caused the man, Santiago, to push me behind him as a way of protection.

“She’s  _ bleeding _ ,” He hisses, “Why is my mate  _ bleeding? _ ”

“I’m sorry, my cousins were grabbing onto me as I took them here-” I turn back to them, “They’re turning. Some vampire bit them and mentioned the Volturi, so I came in here looking for some kind of guidance on what to do with them. I don’t know how you all work, but please don’t kill me yet.”

“Kill you?” The man almost sounds pained as he quells over the idea, “No, we aren’t going to  _ kill you, _ my dear mate. Lord, we’re in the middle of trial for today. Santiago, what is the status of the two  _ cousins _ of my mate?”

“Unable to be saved. They passed out already. Where are we going to put them?” Santiago asks the tall man.

“Watch over their transformation in some spare chambers. I have to take my mate inside of the trial rooms. Make sure that nobody harms the two of them. This is most unfortunate,” Santiago nods, picking the two boys up and taking them away. The tall man looks at me and smiles, his red eyes gazing into mine. “You have nothing to fear, diletto, just stay next to me. We have trials for the day, but I know that you need to be near me right now. I shall explain things later.”

“Are you one of the leaders?” I ask, curious.

“Yes, I am the head leader of this coven of vampires. You were very brave to come here today. My condolences for your family’s loss of their mortality. I suspect that the change was not voluntary,” I shake my head, “We will find their sire and he will be promptly destroyed, I promise you. This act was a direct violation of our most sacred law. To turn someone like that and in front of a human like yourself, during Saint Marcus Day, could have risked the exposure of all of us if you had decided to scream  _ vampire _ in front of the crowds.”

“You have laws?”

“Of course we have laws, little one, as do all places everywhere, in most species. We take our laws very seriously. All rulebreakers will be punished and destroyed for their actions against us. It is the only way to both ensure our safety, but the safety of humanity as well. Come inside, my other mates will keep you safe during this trial.”

The man of whom I did not know the name of opened the door, revealing a courtroom full of vampires. In the middle there were three people, one of which being a human.

_ What an eventful birthday this has been. _


	2. Chapter 2

**The last ten minutes** had been the most chaotic ten minutes of my entire lifetime. These vampires, with shimmering golden eyes of their own, did not look or sound like they were a part of the vampiric government I had stumbled to for help. Their eyes, although gold, did not reflect the elegance that those outside did, their posture not as sophisticated and their clothing westernized.  _ Americans. _

“My apologies for the interruption, Cullens and Ms. Swan, we had a situation outside,” the man said quickly, gesturing for me to go towards the brown haired vampire that sat on one of the three aurous thrones. “Marcus, please watch her as we proceed with the trial.”

“Of course, Aro,” he replied, his voice commanding authority in the room. One of the North American vampires let out a small gasp as I did as was expected of me, walking behind the brown-haired vampire. The third ruler, a near white-haired man, looked at me almost longingly as I stood behind his fellow king.

“Why is there a bleeding  _ human  _ here?” Her hair cut short and her face resembling that of a mere pixie, the vampire looked almost pained as she gazed at me with those golden eyes of hers.

“It is not in your authority to ask such questions of your leaders, Alice,”  _ Aro _ says, sitting back down on his throne, “Though I shall tell you the answer since you seem so perplexed by the mere idea of humanity in these walls. This woman here has been exposed to our kind through a rogue vampire and now she shall be staying here with her cousins, who were bit by said criminal. To track down the man and bring him back for trial shall be our next mission once we are done fancying an agreement on Isabella’s own mortality.”

“Trapping a human inside of this castle?” Isabella, the human questions, her voice weak and showing her own fear of the powerful creatures in front and around her.  _ Playing with vampires, American? What did you think would happen once you figured it out? That they were going to just let you be human? No, clearly this is a monarchy and they have laws against such behaviors like this. I am no caged dove and I will never be a prisoner. _

“I do hope you do not feel trapped in any way, diletto,” Aro turns his head back to me, genuine concern in those maroon eyes of his, “That was not our intention.”

“This American doesn’t know what she’s talking about, Aro, I am here to help my cousins. If I must stay here to do so then so be it, for my family I would do anything,” relief washes over Aro’s face and Isabella’s face turns to annoyance.

“He won’t let you go if you stay,” she attempts to convince me, “They never let anyone go.”

“Do you wish to leave?” I shake my head, wishing to see my cousins even if they did turn into immortals. “It is settled, Isabella Swan, this woman is choosing to be here and is not being forced to stay against her will. Though it pains me to hear such malice come from your heart in regards to the idea of staying with us, know that such opinions shall never be used against you. We only want people in our midst who want to be here.”

“Monsters. What do you have against her?” I let out an offended gasp as the male golden-eyed vampire suggested such a thing.

“Your vitriol will not be tolerated in front of me. Never use what has just happened to my cousins against them. I came here and learned of the vampires on my own accord, though I was exposed to them by that degenerate, I was able to devise a plan in a matter of minutes. These vampires have been nothing but kind to me,” I defended them.

My reaction caused deafening quiet to roll through the room, at first in waves, then all at once. No vampire or human dared to speak as the male vampire stared at me with revulsion in his eyes, turning himself to block anyone from getting to who I could only assume was his  _ lover, _ Isabella Swan.  _ Italian name, but still American. Same attitude as the majority of them, never learning more about customs and jumping to conclusions. _

“These people drink off of humans. They  _ murder _ people-” the blonde king cuts the man off.

“Edward, not everyone is willing to be  _ weak _ like you. No locals are harmed, just stupid tourists who wish to see our tower on Fridays. Self-loathing will get you nowhere, young vampire. Our diet is the one we were born with and it will stay the same. Why do you speak with such haughtiness? It shall not get you anywhere. We are kings, not lowly peasants.”

“Those tourists are still people and deserve to live!” Edward exclaims, “You have no care for human life whatsoever-”

“Let us move forward to the topic on hand, this is a trial,” Aro’s voice turns chipper, “From your thoughts, it is clear that you do not wish to turn your lover, so she will have to die. The law is the law.”

“You’re letting her live!” Edward points at me, “You can’t play favorites with the humans that come through these doors! If that girl is allowed to be human then Bella should be as well!”

“What is your name, cara?” Aro asks.

“Astraea,” I answer.

“Bel nome,” he compliments giving me a winning smile before looking back at the group of Americans, “Astraea’s circumstances are much different from yours. Not only is she a local, but her cousins are turning at this very moment. Even if that were the only things happening to allow her to live, to add the cherry on top of this situational sundae, she is my and my fellow king’s true mate, so she will not be dying anytime soon. No favorites, just special bonds.”

“We are lucky to have her here today. The rightful queen’s first trial,” quite confused by what they were implying, I just stayed quiet behind the brown-haired vampire who had barely said more than a word before.

“Il mio più caro, how long do you think Isabella should have until her transformation. She is currently eighteen,” Aro directs the power to me. The girl in question let out a noise of protest as Aro smirked at her, proving his authority.

“Give them until the end of December of this year,” the verdict fell out of my mouth like melted honey, dripping with my own sense of control over the situation, “Should she not turn, you kill her and the people who were supposed to turn her.”

“You can’t have her tell us what to do! She doesn’t have any power!” I chuckle at his anger.  _ If a vampire king gives his power over to you for a ruling, you do not question whether or not you are worthy or if you are capable, you simply answer and send out your best verdict, only later to be judged. Lord, at least I have common sense. _

“That isn’t common sense, that’s insane!”  _ Great, you can hear my thoughts. So, how about you leave today, bitch to someone else about my verdict, and make sure I never see you again? You’re getting on my nerves, Edward. _ “How could you do something like this, Astraea, you’re a human whose cousins were turned against their will? Mortality should be something that you value, that you cherish! To take it away from Bella is cruel!”

“Le persone come te sono il motivo per cui non ci piacciono gli americani,” the insult came out of my lips faster than I could comprehend that I shouldn’t be so rude to the defendants in the room, even if they had been the first ones to set me off. Keeping composure would make me look calm and collected even when I wanted to throw this man off the clock tower.

“Strong words coming from a human that is on death row,” I roll my eyes at his dramatics.  _ Does he really think he phases me? I have cousins. Identical twin cousins. Both male, obviously. Dealing with the two of them will forever be better than handling pathetic men like him. Get a life and get out of my sight. _

Living a life like mine, already mortal and knowing that I would die some day, I had no fear of the potential dangers that came my way when dealing with anything supernatural. I was already ninety nine percent sure that our basement is haunted, the door constantly opening and closing in the middle of the night with no warnings. These vampires, whether they were American, moral, or otherwise, had no hold over my own lack of fear of my inevitable demise. When it came, it would come, and I would embrace death like an old friend.

“What would you know about mortality?” I muse, “From the way you speak, you’ve been half-dead for quite a few years. What does it feel like to cheat death, Edward? Do you get a rush when you think of just how royally screwed you are once you do die? If there is an afterlife, I would be quite honestly ashamed if Death did not punish you for your antics up here with the humans.”

“You think that they will give you power, but they won’t. They won’t give you anything. They’ll use you and then they will kill you,” Aro growled at the accusation, glaring at the vampire, before standing up and making his way down the marble steps of the room.

“Allegations of such nature will impede your very lifeforce, Cullen. Do not tempt my fury when you have no means to fight back,” the raven-haired man gave Edward a wicked grin before throwing him into the wall. His fellow kings laughed as the human girl yelped and held onto the pixie girl, enjoying the show in front of them.

“The ruling has been made. Leave, Cullens, and hope that we never see you again. Next time Aro will not let you away with your heads,” the blonde haired man spoke with a smirk plastered on his pale face, “We do not want you here and we will not put on this show any longer. To defy the rule of the Volturi is to beg for a most painful death. Take your golden eyes and never speak to my mate or I again. Marcus,” the man gestures for  _ Marcus  _ to take over.

“Isabella will be turned by the end of December, Edward Cullen, by you or by any other vampire with enough jurisdiction to so so. We will, of course, send out one of our guards on the first day of the new year to make sure that you have obeyed our ruling,” Marcus finishes for the three of them, looking disinterested.

“Jane, Alec, escort them out,” a set of young teenagers smirk before walking over to their sides, showing them out of the room.

“We have many things to discuss, Astraea, but first I think it would be wise for us to feed you.”

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

**Light inside of the clock** tower, which I had now learned was just a smaller part of the larger Volturi castle, was hard to find. Shadows lined the wall, whispering sweet nothings to whoever would listen. Not only full of ancient history, Volterra was as I learned a home to the ruling vampire coven in the world. Famed monarchs, their leaders had more control than any human kings, with their law and judgement being final for all citizens, not just those who are in their esteemed coven.

The royal importance of vampire covens was still not introduced to my human mind, not ever quite getting the right answers out of the guards that brought me to the mortal dining hall. Two tall male guards named Demetri and Felix had taken me to my meal. Both men were close as could be, standing close to each other and staying together after they finished their task. 

Whether or not vampires were always as close as they were remains a mystery. Not enough information had been spoon fed to me to make an accurate depiction of vampire on vampire relationships, only seeing a few vampires around each other in the past forty minutes.

Two humans came out of the back room, holding a small bowl of arancini. Smiling, I take the meal and start to dig in. Some of the more traditional Italian foods remained unknown by the tourists that came into the city, often overlooked in favor of things like pasta and pizza, both good options, but not the good stuff.

“I am glad that you enjoy the food here,” I yelped as I realized Aro was behind me, watching me eat with curiosity. “Mi dispiace, cara, non volevo spaventarti.”

“It-It’s fine,” I stutter out, putting my empty bowl back down on the table, ready to have it taken away. “I’m not used to vampire kings walking up behind me. We are not supposed to be in the clock tower as it is. My uncle will kill me if he finds out I was ever here.”

“The Angelos family have been in touch with the Volturi for over three thousand years, cara, although they have chosen to keep the secret from their children. It may be the reason why they have barred you from going near our residence. As you know, this place is a mystery to most of humanity,” I stare at him, perplexed by the information, “I knew some of the original Angelos family members while I was still human. Your family helps us keep the secret of our existence.”

“Well, they sure kept it from us,” I laugh, “For the most part we had no idea. I guess when you live here you listen to all of the superstition. What do they do? My uncle works on passports and birth certificates. It’s too bad that he doesn’t get paid enough for it, the job sounds hard.”

“There are many families that work on our passports, but Nero’s employer is known for exploitation. We have been meaning to put an end to his way of work but have not had the time during this century. Random attacks on humans such as your cousins have become too common. Newborn armies are on the rise. A newly made vampire is easy to manipulate, loyal to those who give them anything to work for in their immortal lives,” Aro explains to me, his tone much darker than before.

“My uncle deserves to be paid a living wage,” I say, “He works harder than I ever have in my life. He does it for us. No matter what, he has always done his best to give us his all, even when he doesn’t have the money to buy us pretty things.”

“It will be our top priority, mia cara,” the vampire king promises. “We should speak on what I have learned in your time with us.”

“I am not very interesting. You know my name, my backstory, and that my cousins are now becoming vampires,” I muse.

“Quite the opposite, Astraea, I find you very interesting,” A light blush runs across my face as I look into his red eyes, “Alas, there are more things to learn about you. The bond that we share is unlike any other in existence. I wish that you could see what I can through Marcus and his gift, for it is truly marvelous.”

“You called me your true mate,” I recall. “What does that mean?”

“True mates are the most important bonds for any vampire. To find yours is to find your other half, or halves, in my case. You are a part of a four way mate bond, with Caius and Marcus also being your mates as well as my own. The Volturi have many members who are mated in pairs or trios.”

“Is it rare for one to have three mates?” Aro chuckles and nods.

“The most people have ever had is three. Never has it been recorded to have four or more true mates. Technically people could have a lesser mate bond that occurs between some married couples, but that is not a soulmate, but a chosen mate that the soul will accept until the void within can be filled with your true mate.”

“So all of us will be together at once?”

“Yes, we shall all be together at once. I would not wish to overwhelm you, but that will be how it turns out if you accept our bond. I doubt that anything could make me happier than to have you here as our one true queen. You have already shown great promise. Not many humans would have been able to handle the likes of that boy as he harassed you for your placement of trust in us.”

“Taking up all of our mate’s time already, Aro?” Marcus had waltzed into the room, walking in elegant strides as he made his way over to the two of us, giving Aro a kiss on the cheek.

“Of course not, amore, simply telling Astraea of true mates and the bonds between people,” he defended himself, “Although the nature of bonds and how they look is known by me, Marcus is much better in regards to his interpretations, for I cannot see them with my own eyes.”

“Vampires have powers?” The two of them chuckle and nod.

“Some have special gifts form when they are turned. Although some humans have been shown to carry special abilities before being made into immortals, gifts are almost always exclusive to the vampire community. About one in twenty-five, although some would say one in fifty, have gifts of their own,” Aro clarified, a small smirk on his pale face.

“How is it that I've lived in Volterra for most of my life and you never found me? I've been around this city, likely bringing whatever human scent I have with me. Does that not seem strange?” I chuckle at the thought.  _ Seventeen years in the same city and they didn’t even care to look in their hometown? _

“We knew that you were born on Saint Marcus Day, but we did not know where to find you. Unfortunately we do not have enough free time to travel the world like we used to, or we would have located you before. As for your scent, you live right near the water, mia cara, and were very hard to smell until you came into the castle. Marcus could see the bond, although it was in a very fetal stage of development, when you came into this world,” Aro says.

“I am the one with bondsight, but Aro’s gift allows him to see all of my thoughts and memories, though it is necessary for him to have skin to skin contact before he can use his gift. Yes, I could see the bond, but we are not that great of trackers ourselves,” Marcus admits, giving me a warm smile.

“You two are here, but there is a third mate. Caius, where is he?” Aro turned to Marcus, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Still playing with his food,” Marcus admits, “He will be able to see you shortly. It is Friday, so we have already had our meal for the week.”

Aro gives his mate a glare at the mention of their diet. “We do not eat the locals, cara, only the tourists that run through the city.”

“I have nothing against you eating human beings, Aro, just don’t eat me and we will be fine. I know that you have to eat  _ something _ and as long as nobody I care about gets eaten, we will continue being fine in that regard,” Aro lets out a steady breath of relief.

“We have no plans to eat you, Astraea,” Marcus confirms. “I am relieved that you did not take what Edward Cullen said seriously. We are not lawless murderers and we only eat people because that is how we have eaten for the past three millenia. If there were a better way to eat that did not make us abnormally weak, we would change our diets in a heartbeat.”

I scoff at the mention of the golden-eyed vampire, “As if I would take anything that americano idiota says to heart. His motives were simple and he challenged my newly found authority. Do vampires often do this to you?”

“The stupid ones,” Aro snarks.

“Mind your tongue,” Marcus reprimands.

“Make me-”

“Let us do something better than this,” I suggest, “How about you take me on a tour?”

“Wonderful idea, cara,” my mates say in unison. I stand on my two feet, taking each of their arms before looking at them.

“To new adventures.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Making our way down the** halls of the castle, I found myself entranced by the intricacies of the miniature models of so many great structures in the world. Over the centuries, it seemed like the Volturi had seen the majority of the human world, bringing back the images in the form of these bite-sized buildings. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Great Colosseum in her prime, and many more unrecognizable places littered the mantles of the hallways, finding themselves stuck in a time long forgotten.

My focus, while also on Aro and all of his explanations, was mainly on the guards that lined the clock tower hallways, standing guard and ready to attack at any time. When we came by, I could sense many of them holding their breath.

Time almost felt stopped in the moments I was there, as if I had finally found a place to call my own. My uncle and his home, while a good temporary home, did not provide me the same comfort that the ancient walls of this castle did. Comparisons would be useless, this castle was the most magnificent place I had seen in my seventeen years of life. No time spent wandering around the Italian countryside could compare to the freedom that was felt on the inside of the vampire coven’s base.

“As I was saying, the Great Colosseum was a bloodbath in it’s best years. We were about a thousand years old when we first came to see the shows. Absolutely spectacular! Horrific as well. It could test any vampire’s control, but we held it together long enough to enjoy a good show,” Aro explains some of the paintings of gladiators in Rome. “Great place for a date.”

“You did take us there quite often, didn’t you, mio caro,” Marcus chuckles, “I wish la nostra cara Astraea could have been there to see the battles they would have. Caius used to get so into those games. We lost quite a bit of money just from his gambling.”

“If fighting comes back, we shall take you, amore. Brutal, but a human fight to the death is something worth seeing in a lifetime,” I laugh at their love of the gladiators, “The best thing humans can come up with now is  _ boxing. _ Ugh, awfully boring. So many rules. Don’t hit here, you can’t do this or that. We want to see  _ blood _ and  _ chaos _ , not a playground fight.”

“The next best thing would have to be Jane and Alec’s battles. When they rile each other up it is almost the same as a gladiatorial fight,” Aro hums in agreement, smiling and nodding to some of the guards. “You will find, mia cara, that many of our guards are quite powerful. Aro likes to  _ collect _ vampires with gifts.”

“I do not-” Marcus cuts him off.

“He collects them like cards. Which ones are the most powerful? Likely the elite guard’s cards. We have cards of our own, but when have we ever used them?” Aro scowls at our mate, who simply chuckles and pats him on the back. “Do not deny your immortal obsessions, my mate, for I can see past them.”

Finally reaching a room at the end of the hallway, Aro stops at the door and knocks politely.  _ Okay, at least the vampires I have for mates are polite. Lord knows how many times I have had to yell at my cousins for walking in during times I would rather not have them witness. Ah, the joys of being one of the only women in the house. _

Caius’ tall figure opened the door, looking at the three of us with a perplexed look. “Why are you all here?”

“Do not be  _ rude _ , Caius,” Aro snaps, “Pay attention to our mate. No more avoidance from you and your blonde arse. I want to see you two grow your bond and you will enjoy every single second of it.”

“Mi dispiace, Il mio amore,” his voice turned much softer than before, looking at me with much more care. “Mi scuso per la mia maleducazione, mia compagna, desidero passare del tempo con te.”

“Much better!” Aro cheered, “I shall leave you two alone then. Marcus and I must do some more paperwork. New coven registration.”

The brown-haired king let out a groan at the idea of monotonous paperwork, but still complied with his mate in doing the horrendous task. My blonde mate let out a huff before opening up the door further, allowing me inside the room.

Inside what I assumed was their shared room, gold and silver lined the walls, shimmering. The entire area, clearly fit for royalty, had its own distinct scent. While I had never had the best sense of either direction or smell, going inside had opened my nose up to the sharp smell of mint and wind that radiated off of the furniture in waves, calling me forward. Never had I smelled something this enticing.

“How did you get the room to smell this good?” Caius laughed before closing the door behind us.

“Vampires have a tendency to scent things that belong to them. Since this is a room we are often in, the place has been scented constantly over the past thousand years. It seems that our bond has allowed you to smell things that most humans can not. A human’s nose is much weaker than an immortal’s, with only the best smellers able to get even a small whiff of our scents,” he explains, picking up a snowglobe from one of the three desks, “Most gifts get scented before they are given. Covens have certain scents as well, as being near the same people at almost all hours of the day would imply.”

“I’ve never had a good nose,” I admit, “My cousins tease me relentlessly on the matter.”

“If you ever wish to turn, that will change,” he says as he puts the snowglobe down, “Many things will get better as an immortal All senses are heightened, bonds will affect you more than they ever could have in your mortality. Emotions will grow and never break their hold on you, eternally set in stone.”

“Vampires must turn on each other once in a while,” I ponder over the ideas of what immortal betrayal could look and feel like, “There will always be evil people. Evil is in everything, so betrayal must be something that many vampires have felt.”

“The feelings of misplaced trust are not as common as in the human side of the world. Not only do immortals feel their positive emotions with unimaginable fervor, they do the same with the negative. Those who take advantage of another vampire, whether it be intentional or not, will see their victim flip a switch, so to speak, all of that positivity turning negative. Feelings of betrayal never go away, once a relationship has been ruined in that way, they can not move on,” Caius clarifies.

“Do you never move past anything?” I ask.  _ What a hard life, never being able to forget what people do to you.  _

“Some can, some can’t, but the ones who can don’t ever truly forget. Our memories are set in stone, we are unable to forget any detail, any small intricacy of what happened. It is both a blessing and a curse,” I nod, understanding what he was hinting, “I would rather be able to remember what my enemies have done, as it gives me the ability to remember all of the good times as well. We are not a species of hatred and betrayal, though some still do reminisce a little too much on what has happened in their immortal lives.”  
It was the last thing that he said to me before I made my way to the window, opening the blinds and looking out to the crowds of red-hooded people celebrating Saint Marcus Day. Within a sea of red, I could see some of the black and grey coats that were littered amongst the humans. Vampires, likely out to find the criminal that had turned my cousins.

My newfound mates had kept their promise to me, something that I would have to take into account. I could only be near those who kept their word. Too many times I had placed my faith in the wrong people, leaving me hurt and angry. Integrity, easy to lose and so hard to gain, was what I cared about above all else.

So many things had changed in a matter of a few hours, but I still did not feel overwhelmed. Today was my birthday, I would find the time to worry tomorrow.

I was sure that I had stared out the window for at least an hour before I turned around, only to see the blonde king gazing at me. Situated on his bed with a book in his lap, his skin glowed, lighting up like shimmering diamonds. All areas of his exposed skin had the same glittery look. What had triggered such an occurrence remained foreign in my mind.  _ Creatures of the night, these feared and renowned creatures, turn into diamonds? _

“This is why we don’t go out in the sun,” Caius deadpans. “We are obvious to any human wishing to harm us during the daylight. The venom in our system, the same venom that coats our teeth, runs through our veins and creates this effect in our skin.”

Nodding, I simply turn to him, taking in his newfound features. It was safe to say that he resembled an angel, with his red eyes the only hint to him being a predator of any sorts. All aspects of him, not only his linguistics and memory, were shaped to perfection. No human I had ever seen could compare to his beauty. Even exposed by the sunlight, the blonde king of Volterra had an air of authority, commanding with his very presence.

“I think that the sunlight wouldn’t be what gives you away,” he gives me a curious look, “Look at your  _ eyes _ , red as the blood you consume. Humanity should be able to notice that humans don’t have red eyes.”

My mate lets out a genuine laugh and nods, “Right, cara. Clearly this shows the lack of common sense in your species, although you have been able to surpass their mental limitations with pure wit.”

“Many humans are smarter than myself, Caius,” he let out a huff before sticking his face in one of the books he had taken from the black nightstand. “You must know that I am not the smartest human in the world, Caius. There have been billions of humans before me and there will be billions of humans after me that will gain more knowledge and wit than I could ever dream of.”

“Over three millenia I have met tens of thousands of human beings, but none with the same ability to reason your way into finding a vampire coven such as our own. Such a feat should not be underlooked,” He sighed, placing the old book back down on his nightstand, creating a kind of silence in the room. I closed the blinds, letting Caius’ skin to go back to a translucent white.

“You give me too much credit,” I say, walking past him and opening the door, “I’ll be back later.”

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

**Caius had not come to** find me in the past three days, staying as far away as he possibly could. I could not comprehend why he would be avoiding me so fervently, but the blonde king had not come into his own room during my stay in their castle.

Knowing that starting any conflict on the matter would do me no good, I simply allowed him to do as he pleased. It was not my place to push him for answers. If he wanted to spend time with me, he would. No matter how much it hurt me to see him hanging out with his other mates and not me, I kept quiet.

Aro and Marcus had spent most of the last three days getting me accommodated, making sure that everything I ate or drank was to my liking. Seeing them so attentive did make Caius’ neglect more manageable, but nothing could truly soothe the burning ache in my heart that longed for the blonde king to give me some form of attention, whether it be a look or a chat.

He had complimented me one day and then just dropped me like I was nothing to him, just some random human girl that had to sleep in his chambers. Even during the time that he was in my presence, it wasn’t like he was actually  _ there _ with me, often stuffing his head in a book or looking out the window. 

I could not see what I had done so wrong, what I could have done to make him this neglectful and almost cruel. All of our interactions before had been positive. I had made no comments that could possibly warrant this kind of treatment. For the most part he had been the one to compliment me and tell me how  _ intelligent _ I was. Now I just felt like the biggest idiot in all of Volterra.

Not only could I not figure out what was going on between us, I couldn’t figure out why I was so upset about it. My life has been full of ups and downs, but no one person has ever left me feeling like I wanted to eat ice cream and cry while watching TV. I didn’t do the whole heartbreak thing. Hell, I had never done the whole relationship thing until three days ago. So how did one man have this much power over my heart already?

Why did I let him in this deep when I knew that he could reject me?

“Amore,” Aro crooned from my side, “What is wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lie terribly.  _ Lord Ambrose and Astro were right, I can’t lie to save my damn life. Well, let’s hope he’s stupid. Please be stupid and believe me. Or just leave it alone. That would be okay as well. _

“Don’t lie to me, Astraea,” his tone turns much darker, “What is wrong?”

“As I said, nothing is wrong,”  _ but nothing is really right _ . I wished I could tell him, but putting that kind of relationship drama on him would just make me feel worse about whatever it was that I had done. “Don’t worry about me, Aro.”

“You know that is not possible,” he mutters, “You are my mate, Astraea, and I will always be worried for you. Whatever is happening, I wish to help you resolve it.”

“Just leave it alone,” I seethe, standing up from the couch and huffing in my own frustration.

“I can’t leave-” I cut him off.

“Leave me alone!” The shout falls from my lips faster than I could think. The guards posted at the doors turn their heads, not making a sound after my outburst. It took me no time to realize that I had yelled at my mate.  _ My mate _ .

Aro’s face had turned to one of sadness. Thick salty tears filled my eyes as I ran from the room, running absolutely nowhere. I couldn’t find anything. I had only been in the castle for three days, finding my way around would be impossible. Even then, I didn’t care. Overwhelmed with the emotions I was feeling, I ran into the only place that I really knew how to get to from the library.

It had been by chance that nobody ran after me. I was here, in the gardens, alone for the first time in days. No vampires, no humans, just me and my damn broken heart.  _ Why did I have to do this to myself? Out of all things I could have done, I had to screw up the relationships that I’m supposed to have. They’re my soulmates and I ruined it. I ruin everything! _

Letting the tears stream down my face, I took a seat on one of the benches near the beautiful ponds. The daylilies were in perfect bloom, canary yellow to match the sun on this summer day.

Nothing had been going right. My cousins were vampires and I hadn’t seen them since they were bitten, I found out that I’m mated to three vampires, and now one of my mates is ignoring me. Not only all of that, but I had yelled at the mate that just wanted to know what was going on.  _ All I wanted was for them to love me, but now I’m the one who isn’t showing them enough love. I don’t know what to do. _

Sobbing into my red sleeves, I watched as the sun started to set. I had never not known some way to get through something before. Having the answers was what made me function, without that logical side of me I had nothing. I had become nothing. I have no means to figure this out. Logic can’t be used with emotion.

It was then that I realized my fatal flaw was what made me strong in the first place.

“Tesoro,” Marcus’ voice cut off my trance. “Don’t cry il mio bellissimo angelo.”

His words did nothing to still the sobs that came out of my mouth, if anything it had made me feel worse.  _ Go away, I look hideous. _

“Amore,” he whispered, coming much closer to the pond and the bench. Looking down at the ground, I bit my lip, stopping the cries of sadness from escaping my mouth. “What happened with you and Aro? Tesoro-”

“I’m sorry, okay?” It came out more as a plea, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I didn’t mean to make him upset.”

“I know, tesoro,” standing next to me, he wraps his fingers around a few strands of my messy blonde hair, “I will ask you the same question he did: what’s wrong? We can’t fix anything if we don’t know what’s going on with you, il mio amore.”

“I don’t want to ruin things,” Marcus sighed.

“Nothing you could do would  _ ruin things _ between us, my mate. We are meant to be,” the vampire kissed my head, “Please?”

“Caius is avoiding me,” I admit, “It hurts so bad. I don’t know what I did wrong. He just hasn’t talked to me at all. He spends time with you but he doesn’t speak to me.”

Marcus wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head as he held me in his arms. The tears that had been streaming down my face stilled as I let out one last cry into his shoulder, needing the comfort.

“Let me carry you. It is far too late for you. You need your rest,” I nod, allowing him to pick me up. I snuggled myself into his arms.

Closing my eyes, I fall asleep on the way back to the bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

Caius’ POV

**I had never felt more** like a failure in my life. The way that the bond tugged at my very soul made me feel everything that I wish I could push away and move past. My bonds with Aro and Marcus had been the same way, but something about this time was simply  _ different. _

All of my life I had tried. Tried to be good, attempted to be evil, but nothing ever stuck. Too good to be evil and too evil to be good, I wasn’t ever going to be good enough for Astraea. Human in so many ways, but she was  _ innocent _ . I couldn’t take that innocence away from her. 

Not the way it had been taken from me all those years ago.

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

_ Ancient Greece _

_ Around three millennia ago _

**_Being from a smaller part_ ** _ of my home city, our jobs mostly consisted of long boating trips. Whether or not you came back depended almost entirely on if you had your own sailing equipment, for sharing only happened between thieves and outcasts. Luckily enough, my father gifted me with a boat for my twentieth birthday, allowing me to ride and make as much money as I pleased. _

_ Unlike many of the other sailors, bringing people along on my trips was not an issue. Finding friends wasn’t that hard when you had a silver tongue to back you up. It wasn’t like anyone would dare mess with my family. _

_ “Caius, make sure to take your brother next time,” my father said, patting me on the back. “He really wants to go with you. Tireless he will be until your return.” _

_ “I wouldn’t let him miss out, father. Zenon shall be with me on my next ride. I shouldn’t be gone for more than a week,” I assure him. “Where is my baby brother? I wouldn’t wish to not say goodbye. Could very well be my last.” _

_ “Don’t say such things, my boy,” it seemed that my father had not liked my joke, “You worry me. Your headstrong spirit plus your generosity may very well be the death of you. Letting all of those miscreants on your ship won’t do you or them any good. Best let the bottom feeders feed off of the other bottom feeders, Caius. He is in his room with your baby brothers and sisters.” _

_ “Thank you, father,” I flash him a warm smile before running to his room. Inside I watched as Zenon played with our baby sisters, allowing them to tug at his long hair. “Brother, don’t let Callidora mess with you in such ways, she will learn to do it to me as well!” _

_ “Let her play, Caius,” I growled at his dramatics, “What’s got you so fussy? You’re the one who’s going on the adventure of a lifetime. I’m stuck here, playing with our baby sister as mother is out to get her weaver fixed. They’re cute, aren’t they? Callidora and Narcissa, I mean.” _

_ “I know what you mean, you little menace,” I picked up Narcissa as she called for me to pick her up. Looking at my baby sister, I give her a kiss on the head. “This is the thanks I get from the Gods. Being born first is the worst, Zenon, now I must set an example for you and our younger siblings. If it were not me, it would have to be you. Gods forbid I ever leave this damn place, you would be done for.” _

_ “Well, good thing you are unmarried and will be lonely just like me,” rolling my eyes at his comment, I stop Narcissa from grabbing at my dirty blonde hair. “It’s her way of showing her love. She’s what, almost two? God, they’re getting so big so fast.” _

_ “Getting to see them grow is a highlight of being older,” I explain, “I got to see you go from being an idiot to being less of an idiot who still can’t comprehend the way of the law.” _

_ “Like father would ever let you be one of those law people. He needs you to make money through our seas. It was how he made his fortune. You’ll be great at it, you and your persuasive tongue,” I hissed as Narcissa grabbed at my hair. “Just make sure that you don’t die out there. Father said that there are some that take advantage of anyone they can. Aren’t you going with that one guy who has black eyes? He’s weird. Super pale.” _

_ “Everyone says that he’s fine and he seems to like me. Don’t judge my choice in friends just because you don’t have any,” I snark, kissing my baby sister’s cheek before letting her run back to Zenon. “Father also said that going alone isn’t a good idea for your first voyage. That’s why you’re coming with me next time.” _

_ “Dealing with you for a week straight, what could be better?” _

_ “Nothing, because I’m lovely,” my little brother smiles and shakes his head. “I’ll be back in a week, Zenon. You’ll be okay for a week. You make it sound like I’ll never come back.” _

_ “You will come back. Do you promise that unless you die you’ll come back?” I nod. _

_ “Even if I do die I’ll come back somehow. This won’t be the last time you see me, brother. Like I would ever give up the chance to see my favorite Zenon.” _

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

**_By the time that I_ ** _ found Cain, he had taken it upon himself to take one of the rooms on the ship. Not bothered by the act, I simply took my place in the captain's quarters. _

_ “So, you and me for the next week, hun?” His voice was deep and had no imperfections. “I know the good places, so you won’t be coming back with nothing. Before you know it, you’ll be perfect, all set up for success.” _

_ “I’ll let you lead the way then,” he nodded, looking out the windows. “Isn’t it odd that we all know what everyone else looks like, but we ourselves cannot see ourselves very well. Water simply distorts my perfection, don’t you think?” _

_ The vanity had been something I let go, not disagreeing that he was always in his perfect human form. Never eating much, the man still had a muscular build. No matter how many times you looked him over for anything to prove that he was imperfect, all you would see is just how beautiful he really was. Many times I found myself jealous of his perfection. If my hair had been a bit lighter, I would be able to compare, but the greasy parts of my hair still showed as my biggest flaw. _

_ “It makes us all look worse,” I state, “Although you do not need water to know that you’re beyond attractive.” _

_ “Aw, I’m flattered, Caius,” he smiled at me, that awful winning smile that I had learned to ignore. It made me feel like some sort of prey animal. He constantly would stare, his eyes going from black to a dark shade of red. What had made his eyes go that color, I did not care to ask. It was not my place to ask such things. _

_ Besides his reddish eyes and pale skin, the man looked good enough to get any woman in town. Why he had not settled down was obvious, he was known to not be able to stick to just one maiden at a time. An awful partner, he would be. Cain was a better friend than lover, often helping me even when he didn’t need to. _

_ Why he had taken such a notice to me in the first place remained a mystery. When he first saw me, his eyes were that of black, his face turning to one of pain. I assume that he had stubbed his toe, but there was no bruise on his toe later on when he invited me over to his place. _

_ My father approved of his presence, but still wanted me to be careful around everyone. Although a man of his era, father would never want anything to happen to any of his children. We were lucky enough that we survived our early years, now we would need to survive into adulthood. _

_ “Say goodbye to those babies?” I frown at his referral to my family, “What? They’re so much younger than you, Caius. Zenon is what, sixteen? You’re twenty! Those baby twins as well. You have so many siblings. Can’t believe you’re all alive.” _

_ “Seven siblings isn’t enough for my mother, apparently. She wants at least three more before she stops trying. Narcissa and Callidora are still biting at me and pulling my damn hair. Zenon lets them, too. Why instill such poor behavior in the girls? Their husbands will not like them pulling at their brothers’ hair. They may get jealous,” Cain laughed before grabbing a bottle of wine, popping the top. “Why are you constantly drinking?” _

_ “Allows me to be near someone like you,” I huff, flopping down on my bed. “Believe me, it’s an honor. You’re a joy to be around. I’m happy that I met someone like you to bring along with me in my travels.” _

_ “You drink when you’re happy? What are you, Roman?” he lets out a cackle, sipping his drink, the red liquid staining his lips. _

_ “Just been young for too long,” I gave him a questioning look before laughing myself. “You’re twenty and I’m old.” _

_ “Oh come on, you’re what, twenty-five at the oldest? You aren’t some old man like my father. Don’t tell him I said that. He’ll have my ass for saying anything against him.” _

_ “A lot older than that, Caius, but let’s not get into details just yet. For now, I’ll let you sleep and we can start on our way to the city tomorrow,” I nod before he takes his bottle with him out of the room. _

_ Cain was a funny man, always speaking in a much older form of our native language. Even if it was hard to keep up with him sometimes, he had more knowledge than I did in almost every single subject area. How old he was didn’t really matter to me, as long as he wasn’t going to take me away from the people I cared about. _

_ As much as I wanted to be out on the open seas, I also wanted to see my family again. _

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

**_It was the second day_ ** _ when I realized that something was going on with Cain. More erratic than he had been the days prior, his eyes were no longer red and stayed at that midnight black color, the same as when he had first met me. While disturbingly reluctant to get anywhere near me, Cain tried his best to distract me from his disoriented state. If he had gotten sick, I didn’t want to catch whatever was making him act so distant. _

_ The looks he gave me mirrored the ones he gave when we first met, almost hungry like a wild animal. If he had gone insane, I wouldn't have been surprised, but the handsome man would stare at me from across the room as I made sure that everything was in order. His face gave me the feeling that whatever he was going to do to me wasn’t what I wanted. To that, I didn’t bother him, keeping to myself. _

_ Whatever had made him feel like this must have been bad, because I have never seen something quite like this. _

_ “Caius, I need to be honest with you here,” I turned my head to Cain, who was sitting down on the deck. “You smell great.” _

_ “Bathing does wonders for that,” I laughed at what I thought was a joke. “What’s been up with you today? You look like you’re in pain.” _

_ “My throat burns,” His voice turned back to one of dramatics. _

_ “Did you eat something horrid? Keep in mind what you eat, whatever you do eat. You never eat in front of me. Why is that? Do you just live off of wine? That can’t be healthy, Cain.” _

_ “The fact that you worry about my health even though you’re the one who should be worried about is astounding,” I gave him a confused glare. “I’m being frank with you, Caius. You have no idea what I am and what I could do if I don’t control myself around you. You’re different from all of the other people in your city. You care about people, even when their eyes turn black whenever they see you.” _

_ “Showing people basic care is what matters most in this world,” I explain, “Who would I be if I didn’t show care? Just another Greek asshole.” _

_ “You see, that’s what made me choose you. It’s awful that I couldn’t be around you as a human for a little while longer,” I take in a deep breath, my heart starting to thrum in my chest, “I’m sorry, Caius, that I had to expose you to this. You can be like me. I’ll make you like me. No more little human Caius, only power.” _

_ “What are you?” I question, looking for the dagger that I had stored away in case someone came to pirate the ship. “Look, whatever you want from me, I don’t want it. Power isn’t something I’m looking for right now.” _

_ “Come on, man, can’t you just see the potential? Someone like you can’t just live and die on me.” _

**_Live and die. Live and die. Isn’t that what everyone does? Everything lives and everything dies. The only beings that don’t die are the Gods, nymphs, and sirens. Is he some sort of male siren? Do those exist?_ **

_ “I know that this is going to hurt, but it will be worth it. Caius, you can come with me. Be like me, be like one of the powerful beings of this world. You don’t have to be weak,” I scoff at the insult. “Humans are weak, they will always be weak. Don’t act innocent, you haven’t seen the power that I hold. I’ll have it with you, that bond. Bonds hold us together, Caius, and we can be a part of a group. I can find more people until you can turn them yourselves. A new coven. Us two as the leaders.” _

_ “I have a family,” I remind him, “I have a family that needs me to be there. No matter what power you hold over me or over other people, they are all that I want in this world. I cannot go with you, Cain, not unless I can take them with me. Father would never become one of you, whatever you are.” _

_ “Immortals, some call us the blood drinkers,” I shake my head at the reference to the old wives tale. “We are real and we do drink human blood. We are turned by the venom that coats our teeth and we live immortal lives. Some have a gift, I simply have control. Do you know what you are to me, what you mean to me?” _

_ The man that I had thought of as a friend, the man that I allowed on my ship, had turned out to be a monster of another kind, wishing for me to leave my family and join him.  _ **_No, I won’t leave Zenon, I could never leave Zenon. Nor my mother and father, or my little siblings. I promised that I would come back. My word is all that I have!_ **

_ “Blood is what I crave more than all else. Yours, Caius, it’s better than any alcohol. It draws me in, my mind begs me to drain you of all that red blood, but I know better. You are more useful alive than dead. That heart of yours, it will get you somewhere. You hold no hate in your heart for anyone. Caius, I wish for you to be my covenmate, my co-leader to a coven that will rule the world. After we succeed, we can go back to your home. Your family can be turned after those little siblings of yours become of age. Live immortally, we will rule this world. The world will trust you.” _

_ With all of his words of conquest and promises that I knew he could be unable to keep, I saw one look of desperation in his eyes. One of another kind, those eyes were black. No carmine, no maroon, just black. _

_ “There is no way for you to sweet talk me into this. The answer is no,” his eyes turned angry as he took a step towards me. “You have been a good friend, but my mortality is set in stone. I do not wish to leave my family. They need me. I have hope that you will find someone else to turn into a blood drinker, vampirica, but I do not wish for the life you wish for me.” _

_ He took a long pause, keeping his distance from me as he thought. Whatever was going on in his head, it must have had to do with how he was going to convince me.  _ **_He needs to know that I still want the best for him in his travels. My life is here with my family, not somewhere leading in a murderous government._ **

_ “For your own benefit,” he starts, “I will do this for your own benefit. I will be your sire and you will be my friend.” _

_ “Just because I am human does not mean that we cannot still be friends. There are many kind hearts out there, you shall find another to rule with you,” Cain shook his head. “I will not rule with you, Cain. Please just-” _

_ “You will turn and you will learn to love being immortal!” he shouted at me. Within a blink of an eye he was right in front of me, holding me against the wall. I whimpered, his grip like iron on a feather, nearly breaking my bones as he displayed his power. “Caius, you could never hate anyone, that is what makes you such a perfect king. Of course, even if you did hate someone, it could never consume you like most vampires. No, you love, and that is what makes you the best. I will only take the best.” _

_ “L-Let me-” I gasped for breath as his hand wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air flow. “G-G-Go-” _

_ “Too bad that you had to be forced, this could have been such an easier time if you had just said yes,” Cain gave me one last smile before sinking his teeth into one of the arms he had pinned up on the wall. _

_ Searing pain rippled through my body, giving me no way to move as he drained my blood. After a few seconds, he pulled himself away, wiping his mouth of my blood as I fell to the ground, paralyzed. _

_ “It won’t be so bad for long. Your human memories will likely die from the venom,” Cain laughed, pulling me up on the bed, “You smell so amazing, just that taste was enough for me to almost kill you.” _

_ “Leave,” I whispered, hot tears streaming down my face. _

_ “Why would I do that, my friend?” His voice almost mocked my cripped form as he picked me up, taking me down into his chambers. “You and I are going to be kings. Just you wait, Caius, you’ll be the best ruler the world has seen. I can be bad and you can be good. The perfect balance.” _

_ “No-” my vision started to blur as I attempted to hold onto consciousness. _

_ “Yes,” he countered, holding my chin in his hand, forcing me to look up. “Caius, you and I will be brothers. You don’t need those humans, but we can get them when the time is right. Any last words, young one?” _

_ “I-I-I” _

_ “Let it out!” he shouted at me. _

_ “I hate you.” _


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:
> 
> Cosa c'è che non va, mio caro Aro? Chi ti ha ferito? What is wrong, my darling Aro? Who has hurt you?
> 
> Cos'è successo, il mio amore? Per favore dimmi cosa c'è che non va. What happened, my love? Please tell me what is wrong.
> 
> va bene. Ti amo più di ogni altra cosa. Il mio compagno, luce mia, le cose andranno bene. Andrà tutto bene. it's okay. I love you more than anything else. My mate, my light, things will be okay. Everything is going to be alright.
> 
> Ti amo mio re. I love you my king.
> 
> Δεν θα μου πει τι συμβαίνει. She won't tell me what's wrong.
> 
> Νομίζω ότι την αναστάτωσα. Έτρεξε μακριά μου. I think I upset her. She ran away from me.
> 
> Σε αγαπώ Μᾶρκος. I love you Marcus.
> 
> Σ 'αγαπώ πολύ αγάπη μου. I love you too darling.
> 
> συγγνώμη. I'm sorry.
> 
> Δεν έπρεπε να σε ωθήσω Λυπάμαι που σε αναστάτωσα, αγάπη μου. Σε παρακαλώ συγχώρεσέ με. I shouldn't have pushed you. I'm sorry for upsetting you, my love. Please forgive me.

Caius’ POV

 **The light that had once** filled my human eyes, those emerald green eyes, was lost so long ago. No matter how many times I came back to see what had happened to our home, all I saw were the same burned remains of the house I had tried to go back to. _I should have killed him for what he did to me, but how was I supposed to know that tearing him apart wouldn’t be enough to rid him from the universe?_

Pain had been what made me, and it was what stayed with me throughout all of these years.

Even if I knew I could have hurt them, I needed to tell them that I loved them. I tried. I tried so hard, but it was too late. The house had burned down in a fire. If they did survive the fire, they clearly moved away. No signs of my family’s old life lingered after a decade of life, washed away like Cain’s body parts in the ocean.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want to spend more time with everyone. There was nothing more that I would dream for than having the bonds that my coven has with each other. Attachments were almost impossible for me to form. I couldn’t let myself be hurt like that again.

I was not weak and I would never be weak again.

“Give her a chance, Caius,” pulled out of my thoughts by none other than my best friend and ‘wife’, Athenodora walked over to me with her own form of grace. “That is the first step you must take. It will always be the first step. Stop avoiding your mate and give her your attention. It is not fair for either of you to be doing this.”

 _Screw you, Athenodora. I hate that you’re always right._ “You gave me a chance, did you not? Someone who is not your mate. I do not want to have to push you together like I had to with Aro and Marcus. We will not have that part of our history repeat itself.”

“History…” I trail off.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Caius,” Athenodora pleads, “You don’t have to hurt yourself like this. You aren’t going to _ruin_ her or _taint_ her.”

Feeling myself start to get upset, I stand up, ready to leave the room. “I’m going-”

“Please, Caius, don’t do this. Stay with us. Let her in,” Taking in a deep breath, I let out a sad chuckle before looking right at her. “Let her in, Caius.”

“That’s the problem, Dora, I don’t know how to.”

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **Killing myself from the inside** wasn’t what I wanted, but it was what I had done. Stuck immortally heartbroken in some way, my body stopped functioning, paralyzed just like when he stole my humanity. 

I hadn’t even been able to pull myself onto the bed, just falling to the floor. My legs frozen together, all I could do was look at the door while I waited for my heartache to pass.

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

Marcus’ POV

 **Finding any way to keep** our family together was what I did best. Years as the mediator between Aro and Caius’ bickering had taught me many things about what it really took to be a leader.

Something had been off with both Astraea and Caius ever since Aro and I left them together. Not only had there been no new developments in their bond, but from what it looked like through my bondsight it seemed as if their mate bond was in fact _weakening_ , a horrendous sight. Once a glittering gold, the sign of finding and triggering the bond, their strings had dulled in both brightness and color, almost turning a mustard yellow. Why this had happened was unknown, but something told me that this was not Astraea’s doing.

Caius had always been quite a difficult person to get through to. Often hiding himself from anyone who tried to make a friendship with him, his trust issues would constantly prove to do him more harm than good. I understood why he cut himself off from people, but to remove himself from the life of his final mate, the mate that would complete his soul, was simply absurd.

It was when I felt a sudden pang through my chest that I knew something terrible had happened. Checking myself, I let my eyes glaze over to see the world around me in a much different way, looking down to where my bonds connected to my soul.

My completed bond with Aro burned with sadness as I stared down at it, a call out to me. _Cosa c'è che non va, mio caro Aro? Chi ti ha ferito?_

Putting down the ancient book I had previously been reading, my body leaves to find my upset mate. It was my duty to keep them happy, no matter the time or place. If Aro was unhappy, I had failed my duties as a mate. They should never be upset, not after everything that we have been through together. Giving them happiness would always be my favorite pastime.

Following the bond to right outside the great library we had built so many centuries ago, I find my mate holding back whatever emotions he was feeling. Aro’s face was filled with mixed emotions, both pain and frustration fell across his maroon eyes as he turned to face me, a fake smile plastered across his pale face.

“Amore,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around him in a means to comfort. “Cos'è successo, il mio amore? Per favore dimmi cosa c'è che non va.”

My raven-haired mate is quiet, not answering my urgent question. I feel my body start to rumble, a low purr being released in an attempt to make him feel better. It was all I could do if he did not explain to me what had happened. I did not have the same gift as him. Looking into his thoughts and memories of whatever had occurred was not an option.

“Aro,” I say again before kissing the side of his head, “If you do not tell me what has been bothering you I cannot help you fix it.”

“There’s nothing anyone can do,” he whimpers, holding onto me much tighter than before, almost too tightly. This was not the Aro that I was used to. My aro had optimism, wished for the days where we could walk outside and be open about everything. He believed that anyone and everyone can change if given the chance. Most importantly, he had _hope._

What had made my mate give up?

“Tesoro, we can fix whatever happened,” I try to shape his view, “I promise that we can work on it. If you tell me I will do everything in my power to help you.”

No words came out of Aro’s mouth, his breath nearly stopping. His broken down face terrified me to no end. The bond between us had shaken so hard that I had been worried that something _physical_ had happened to him. Although clearly he was in emotional distress, he was safe inside the castle. He would always be safe inside of this castle. It was the reason we stayed here in the first place.

Running my hands through his long hair, I kiss the top of his head, purring. My younger mate let out a sob as he buried his head into my chest, not able to let out any tears that filled his immortal eyes.

“Il mio amore, va bene. Ti amo più di ogni altra cosa. Il mio compagno, luce mia, le cose andranno bene. Andrà tutto bene,” my voice was low as I held onto my mate, who simply cried into my shoulder. “Ti amo mio re.”

“Δεν θα μου πει τι συμβαίνει,” I hear him say in our native tongue, voice low and hitched, “Νομίζω ότι την αναστάτωσα. Έτρεξε μακριά μου.”

Taking in a deep breath as I understood what had made my mate so upset in the first place, I held my mate closer, if that were even possible. “Do not fret, tesoro, I shall speak with our Astraea and figure out what has happened between the four of us. I suspect that Caius and her have had some sort of fight. Their bond is nowhere near as strong as it should be.”

“Their bond is not strong?” Aro’s voice turned to worry. “She has been here for three days, the bond should be growing exponentially.”

“I am afraid that Caius has not been quite as instinctual as he should be. He may be blocking her out like he did us when we first met,” Aro grimaced at the harsh memories of our first meeting, “Things will change. We shall all be complete now. I do not think Astraea would ever mean to harm you in any way. What did she say?”

“She yelled at me,” I sigh, knowing just how much my mate hated yelling of any kind. “Told me to _go away_ and to _leave her alone_.”

Moving over to kiss his cheek, I feel him relax as he explains what had happened. Why Astraea was being so secretive about the way she truly felt was unknown to me, but it was obvious that if she had yelled, something I had never seen her do, it was serious. One reason she could be upset is simply because of the mate bond slowly _dying_ due to her potential bickering with Caius. Any fights could cause deep upset and I knew that she was quite the sensitive person. _So much like Caius in her own way. Keeping her feelings to herself when she should be telling us what is wrong._

“Let me go speak to her. Do you know where she is?” Aro shook his head in ignorance, “That is alright. I should be able to find her scent anywhere in the castle or otherwise.”

“She’s upset,” I nod, “She may yell at you too.”

“Then I will let her yell at me,” I say, even if her doing so would hurt my heart. “I cannot allow this to go on. Whatever differences we may have, we are mates and our problems must be solved before they tear us apart.”

“Σε αγαπώ Μᾶρκος.”

“Σ 'αγαπώ πολύ αγάπη μου.”

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **Looking out at the gardens** , I could see my mate sitting on one of our older benches. The bench itself had to have been made over a century ago, with its brighter colors and intricate design. Not the kind of thing you would see in a modern furniture store.

Astraea’s face was littered with tears as she looked at the ponds in front of her, tapping her feet as she cried. Not wanting to get yelled at or scare my dear mate, I approach quietly as to not worry her or overwhelm with my presence.

Not making a single sound as I approached her, I tried to get her attention, “Tesoro.”

My mate let out a startled noise and I cursed myself for being so insensitive to her human nature. When she turned to face me, her face was red and puffy from her crying. At every tear that streamed down her face I felt like I was being torn from the inside, all of my instincts begging me to stop her from crying and to comfort her. “Don’t cry il mio bellissimo angelo.”

It seemed that my words did nothing to help her, tears still leaking from those gorgeous blue eyes of hers. _Please, I only wish for you to be happy. That is all that I would ever wish…_

“Amore,” I whispered, taking another step towards the bench, “What happened with you and Aro? Tesoro-”

Astraea cut me off, exclaiming, “I’m sorry, okay? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I didn’t mean to make him upset.”

“I know, tesoro,” I say, wrapping my cold, pale fingers around some of her platinum blonde hair. _Truly so similar to Caius in many ways. If only you knew just how much he does care for you, for all of us. I believe that with time you shall be able to see his love and know his limits just as Aro and I do._ “I will ask you the same question he did: what’s wrong? We can’t fix anything if we don’t know what’s going on with you, il mio amore.”

“I don’t want to ruin things,” I sigh again at the unnecessary insecurity.

“Nothing you could do would ruin things between us, my mate. We are meant to be,” my voice goes much softer than I originally intended. Kissing her crown, I let out a plea, “Please?”

“Caius is avoiding me,” her admission hurt my heart. _Why would he do such a thing. He spoke to us, but he was cruel in the beginning. Even that was better than for him to not speak to us at all. My darling..._ “It hurts so bad. I don’t know what I did wrong. He just hasn’t talked to me at all. He spends time with you but he doesn’t speak to me.”

Hearing her feel so _rejected_ not only made me upset, but also a bit angry with Caius. He had no right to be treating his beloved mate like this, the mate that he was not only destined to be with but who had also opened up her heart to him. She felt _crushed_ and it was his _ghosting_ that hammered at their bond. _I thought they were fighting when we were away at trial. I thought they had been together the entire time. Has my mate just been alone?_

Giving her another loving kiss to the head I say, “Let me carry you. It is far too late for you. You need your rest.”

Astraea nodded, tired after all of the distress she and her bonds were put under. Using my strength, I hold her up in my arms, easily able to hold her small form. She truly was a tiny woman, only standing at a mere 5”2. My mate’s blonde hair fell over her face as her eyes closed, cutting off access to her crystal blue orbs.

Walking out of the garden, I could see many of the guards turn away as we walked, not wanting to do or say anything to set their king off. It was good that they had done so, for I was not in the mood to chat. I had a job to do. Fixing what had happened between my mates would be my top priority until it was finished. _Don’t worry, my love, I shall always keep you safe in this castle. We will be happy together._

The vast corridors led me to our room, where I could smell my mates inside. Caius’ scent was much different now that Astraea had come into our lives, taking a more floral tone to the once sharp scent of wintertime.

Opening the door without a care to knock, I find Aro sitting down at the window, looking outside. He does not say anything, but turns his head to see our mate in my arms, unable to give a smile after what had happened. His somber look haunted me, but I turned away, looking at Caius, who was in our large bed.

“He’s…” Aro trails off, seemingly unable to say the other part of the sentence. I knew what the change in his scent was now. No florals could cover up the way he smelled when he got like this.

“Comatose,” I look down at the floor below, not wanting or willing to see my mate in such a state. It _killed_ me to know that Caius had upset himself to such an extent. “The last time he did this…”

“Three weeks,” Aro finished for me, “He was like this for three weeks last time. I don’t know what to do.”

His voice cracked as he spoke, looking over at his mate who could not move or say anything in response. I knew that he could hear us, but there was no way that he could respond. _This has gotten out of hand already. Caius… my love... come back to us…_

My attention was diverted to Astraea, who had woken up in my arms. She let out a whine as she looked up at me. Her eyelids drooped as she turned away from me, looking at Aro and Caius. _She doesn’t know how he gets..._

“Συγγνώμη,” she apologized to Aro, a clear frown on her face. Our raven-haired mate sniffled before running over to us. The telepath gently took her out of my arms, holding her in his own, before kissing her head.

“Δεν έπρεπε να σε ωθησω Λυπάμαι που σε αναστάτωσα, αγάπη μου. Σε παρακαλώ συγχώρεσέ με,” Aro apologized next, burying his cold face in her neck.

“You aren’t in the wrong,” Astraea tells him, “You tried to help and I yelled at you. I messed up. I messed up really bad.”

Aro gave her a saddened look before kissing her head again, not allowing her any room to escape his grasp. “No, I am in the wrong. If you don’t want to tell me something I should not pressure you. We may be mates but you should never feel pressured. I have failed in my duties to make sure you feel safe enough to tell me something that you believe should change. I still do not know what has happened, but I know that I should never pressure you again.”

“You didn’t pressure me,” she denies. “I didn’t want to ruin any chances at you all being happy.”

Taken aback, Aro looks her in the eye before firmly whispering, “There is nothing you could ever do that could make me not want you, not want to be with you and make you the happiest woman alive. I would stand by you through everything no matter the cost. I would burn the damn world down if it meant that we could all be happy. Whatever has happened here today is mendable. We bend, not break.”

Our mate nods in understanding. We would really do anything for her and for our mates. Nothing was off limits unless it involved breaking our own laws. She could have whatever jewels or castles she wanted.

Looking over at Caius, Astraea gulps at the sight. Simply staring over at the wall, Caius had not moved, blinked, or taken a breath for quite a while. How long was unknown, but he was clearly in emotional pain. _This is what happens when you reject your mate’s presence. Caius, don’t harm yourself in such a way._

History had truly repeated itself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:
> 
> Cosa stai facendo tesoro? What are you doing, darling?
> 
> Potrebbe essere così per un po ', amore mio. He may be like this for awhile, my love.
> 
> Παρακαλώ μην... κλαις. P-please don't... cry
> 
> Μην κλαις την αγάπη μου. Do not cry my love.

Astraea's POV

 **My blue eyes turned to** Caius, who had not moved the entire time I had been there. No movement or even sign that he was conscious at all, my mate's body was the only thing indicating that he was in the room at all. I could barely feel his presence, but the part that I felt left a hollow mark on my heart.

"Caius," I whispered, my voice much softer than before as I looked him up and down. Either he could not hear me or he was outright ignoring me, both ideas haunting me. _Vampires don't sleep, so why are you just there? Please don't....don't just reject me...I need you._ "I know that I'm not what you wanted, but I'm what you got."

The gold plated room felt heavy, like all of the gold that lined the walls were crashing down on my shoulders and my human heart. I had never allowed myself to feel this way for someone before, let alone a vampire. Not being able to handle the mate bond between us was proving to bring me to desperation. _I need you. I want you and you don't seem to want me. That's all that I want. I don't think I can handle the rejection, the loss. I've lost too much..._

"Tesoro," Marcus ran his hands down my sides, "Do not think that he does not long for you-"

Cutting him off with a single tear running down my blushed cheeks, I say, "Why would he do this if he wanted me? He doesn't _act_ like he wants me. I want him more than anything but he just ignores me all the same. Obviously he wants to reject me but isn't saying it."

"Astraea, Caius would never reject you," Aro tries to reason with me, but fountains of tears run down my face as I stare at my blonde mate's comatose body. The raven-headed king wipes away some of the tears that had fallen from my electric blue eyes before he spoke again, "It pains him to be away from you, piccola."

"Our mate has _difficulties_ accepting new people into his life," Marcus explains, holding me close as my eyes continue to wander back to the bed where Caius layed. "He shall explain it to you when he comes back from this state. Never think that our mate does not care for you more than anything else, I have seen it in his eyes when he looks at you. We have waited for our entire lifetimes to get the chance to have you, to be complete and happy with you, Caius would not try to jeopardize that on purpose."

Taking another look at my blonde mate, I saw that I couldn't fully see his face. I had never been able to get very close to him, emotionally or physically. My very soul longed to be near him, to give him everything. I had done exactly what my soul told me to, giving my mate my heart and soul. Whether or not that was a mistake on my part would remain unknown. There was nothing that could help me pull away from him now. I had allowed myself to fall too hard too fast.

Inching away from Marcus and Aro, I take one step towards Caius. No movement. Another. Nothing, not even a twitch. A third step and I was next to the bed, able to see his red eyes as they glared daggers into the wall. _There has to be something I can do. I can't let him hurt himself like this._

"Diletto," I hear Marcus whisper under his breath as I make my way to our mate's side. I paid no attention to him as I pulled the blanket that someone had placed over him. "Cosa stai facendo tesoro?"

Not answering his question, I carefully slip myself under the covers, snuggling up to his cold, hard chest. Streams of tears rolled down my cheeks as I sobbed into his unmoving chest, just wanting for him to be okay. Wrapping my arms around him, I silently continue to sob as our mates watch.

"Potrebbe essere così per un po ', amore mio," I shake my head, willing to stay here for as long as I need to. Holding onto his much larger frame, I feel a small shift in the blankets. _I miss you, Caius. I miss you so much. Please don't leave us like this._

I yelped as I felt strong arms wrap themselves around my smaller body, pulling me in close. A long kiss was placed on my head as I continued to cry, overwhelmed by the situation I had been placed in. I knew that the one who had kissed the crown of my head was Caius, but my crying stopped me from saying anything.

"Παρακαλώ μην... κλαις," Caius' voice was low and pleading as he held me against his chest. "Μην κλαις αγάπη μου."

Unable to speak, my arms tighten their grip around my mate's waist, not wanting to part from him, not after we had not spoken for three whole days. The blonde king tried to move me off of him, which made me let out a sound of protest Seeing as he could not remove me without upsetting me further, he allowed me to stay furrowed in his chest.

At that moment there was nothing that mattered more to me than to keep myself with him, to not part from him. I had never been a possessive person, but having him away made me want to claw my own eyes out. The idea that he could leave made me crazy, sending my heart into a frenzy. It was clear that Caius saw my upset, kissing my head as I cried into the sheets and his chest, but he said nothing as he gave me those small bits of affection that I craved.

My tears stilled as he moved my face up, letting me gaze into his red eyes. His cold hand carefully rubbed away some of my leftover tears, moving them off of my cheeks. No clear emotion could be discerned from the way that he looked at me, but his lip quivered slightly at every breath I took. Rolling his fingers over my blushed expression, I could feel him start to come back to life, eyes no longer clouded with so much pain and guilt.

"Amore," he whispers, his voice barely audible, "You cannot fathom how sorry I am. Please do not cry any longer. I never wished to harm you in any way, my precious mate. Never would I consider rejecting you, my darling. I cannot bear the thought of such an act.... My soul tears at the very mention. To be without you... I would rather embrace death, but only would I wish to embrace death with you beside me."

No words left my lips as our eyes met. Clashing emotions filled my heart as he placed a single hand on my cheek, not moving as we laid in the bed. Bringing my much warmer hand to my cheek, overlapping with his own that had been placed seconds prior, I allow myself to feel the ultimate comfort that came with his presence.

His gaze was unlike anything I had seen before, filled with both apology and hurt. My wandering eyes glanced down to his lips, which held the same slight quiver they had before, only now I could feel his breath as he exhaled. No longer was he the comatose statue of a man that I had seen when I woke up, having a certain amount of life to him as I looked at him longingly.

Lord had I wanted him. I had never granted myself the personal pleasure of longing for someone, let alone a man I barely knew. In my entire lifetime I did not expect to _want_ someone the way I wanted _him_. Those blonde locks called to me in ways I never thought possible, his porcelain face and clear skin looking more handsome than anything I could imagine in my silly childhood daydreams.

"Αγάπη μου," he says, his voice only slightly louder than his previous whispers. "What are you doing to me?"

Deciding to not give a verbal answer, I reach out to his cheek. Caius let out a sharp breath before I moved my head up, closing my eyes and connecting our lips together in a passionate kiss. Hearing my mate groan under his breath, I wrap my arms around his neck. Given better access to my lips, my mate moved a strand of my hair off my face.

Skin like marble, everything about what I had done came flooding back to my senses. There was no stopping the pounding of my heart or the blood that rushed to my cheeks as his firm lips moved against my soft ones. Being with him was what I wanted and having him now was better than I would have thought before.

It was Caius who broke off the kiss, blinking as his eyes looked me up and down, almost as if he were checking if I was still okay. His blonde hair was much messier than before, but still held the same regal shape.

"Astraea," he breathed out, placing his hand back on my cheek as he glanced at the rest of my body. "Are you alright?"

Giving him a questioning look, he glanced down at the bed sheets, which were messy and wet from my tears. Quickly moving them out of the way, he picked through some of the heavier, warmer blankets and used them to wrap me up in a cocoon. I was sure that I looked stupid, but Caius wouldn't let me move as he continued to ensure that I was kept warm.

"Caius," I complain, not wanting to be wrapped inside of the blankets.

"No," he denies me, continuing to work me into a cocoon shape. I could hear Aro and Marcus chuckle from the other side of the room, staying away as our mate dutifully worked on me. "Humans need to be warm. It's getting cold and we don't have air conditioning."

"I can't move," I whined, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. "I want to move."

"You want to _sleep_ ," Caius said with confidence, kissing my head as he finished. I whined some more, still trying to wrangle myself out of the blankets, which in his defense had made me quite comfortable. "Please, cara, it is late and you need your rest."

"I don't want you to leave," my blonde mate kisses my head, taking my blanket wrapped self and holding me close to him.

"We can stay if you wish," I turn my head to see Marcus, who instantly kissed my cheek and found himself next to Caius in the bed, wrapping his arms around our mate. "Caius, move over so Aro can join us."

The taller man groaned but did as our mate asked, bringing me along with him in the process. Now in the middle of the bed, I feel Aro nuzzle himself into my side, wrapping his arms around the blankets. A low purr came from his chest, rumbling as he got himself comfortable.

With no more words, I allowed myself to be embraced by sleep.

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **Light filled my eyes as** I woke, originating from the windows that had likely just been opened. Still tired and grouchy, my body flipped over in an attempt to stay away from the blinding light that had been allowed in the room.

"Looks like our dear Astraea has woken up from her slumber," flipping my head to the right, I see Marcus smiling at me as I try to open my eyes up, only able to get halfway before wanting to close my eyelids once more. "We have much that we can do today, cara. Whatever you wish. Our schedules are cleared for the day."

"You didn't have to," I mutter, rubbing my eyes as I wrangle myself out of the cocoon that Caius had made me sleep in the night before. Letting out a groan, I open my eyes up for the first time, almost blinded by the Italian summer sun that had been allowed to harass my face. "Probably have other things to do. Kings and all."

"Nonsense," Aro mutters, making his way over to my side. "I would rather spend meaningful time with my mates than act as a king. Our duties can wait, being here for you is our top priority."

A light blush finds its way to my cheeks as Aro gives my head a loving kiss. My mate then turns to Marcus and gives him the same, causing the vampire to snuggle into the blankets and the bed. _That's actually adorable. Who knew vampires could get all mushy._

Looking out to the window, I see Caius watching me as I swirl around in the bed, attentive in his stare. His pale skin now glittered in the sun, almost shining a light gold or silver as he sat at the window frame. His red eyes contrasted the aura of the room, almost outlandish when placed with the pale stone that lined the windows and the wall.

"Athenodora will be glad to hear you have finally allowed our mate into your life," I hear Aro snark at our shared mate, who just looks down and frowns. "What? She is your best friend. She will be happy for you, my love."

"Dora will be a pain in my ass for the rest of time," he says dramatically, rolling his eyes at the thought. I giggle, finally able to roll out of bed. Standing up, I looked to my three mates, who watched me carefully as I got up. "Please do not harm yourself. Be careful."

"I'm not made of glass," I insist, looking down at the old and likely dirtied clothes I had on from the night before. "I doubt you have any women's clothes in here right now. Who was the woman I was borrowing clothes from again? I ran out last night."

"My sister," my eyes turned to Aro, who had found himself beside me, "I think that Didyme will be happy to dress you for today. Don't be too surprised when she pesters you with needless questions about last night or tells you stories about every single embarrassing thing I have done in the last three millenia. Both exaggerated and slightly untrue, the tales she spins with that silver tongue of hers."

"Consider me warned," my mate smiles and pulls me into an embrace that I accepted, wrapping my arms around him. He purred, kissing my head, before he picked me up in his arms. Letting out a single cry of shock, he chuckles and opens the ancient doors to our room, allowing me to see the corridor outside.

"She should be in the towers."

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **The Volturi Castle towers apparently** were built after the Romanians attacked some of the coven members during one of the many wars between the two covens. One major person who almost didn't escape with her life was Didyme, my mate's little sister who he turned into an immortal only ten years after he became a vampire. A place of protection was rumored to be a holding cell for the three women inside, who really chose to be there, guarded and safe for the rest of eternity.

All of the history behind the place not only intrigued me, but also made me wonder why the rest of the vampire community thought of my mates as either scary or ruthless in their pursuits of law and order. Justice had to be served by someone, so perhaps whoever were the rulers would be blamed for the bloodshed that came with the job.

My mate had been the one to knock on the alder door, giving only three taps to the old wood. Within a few seconds, the door was opened, revealing a beautiful woman with snow white hair and red eyes. She did not resemble my mate in the slightest.

A wordless exchange occurred between the two, lasting but twenty seconds, before this woman called out, "Didyme! Your brother and his human mate are at the door!"

"Coming!" a higher pitched voice called back. A few moments later I could see a black haired woman at the door, looking a bit frazzled as she looked up at my mate. This woman was a spitting image of my mate, with the same soft and caring features and general ambiance. "I suspected that she would run out of clothes soon. Just leave her here and I'll get her ready."

"Keep her safe," was all Aro said before he kissed my cheek and left down the stairs at a lightning pace. Not knowing what else to do, I quietly found my way into the room. My mate's sister, Didyme, smiled at me and ran into another room, most likely to get some clothes out.

Coming back with quite a few blue and gold dresses, I hear her giggle under her breath. While blue had come to be a color that I loved, I never suspected that I would be dressed up head to toe in it. Mixing my colors was often what I was known for, so this was quite new to me. Nevertheless, I gave her a genuine smile before sitting down on a chair in the room.

"This should be easy since we're the same size," she says, putting down three dresses. "Hmm, this dark blue would be nice, but the collar may not look good with such big breasts. Ooh, the gold on this one matches perfectly with some other shoes that I have. You are going to look _spectacular_ for whatever my brother and your other mates have planned for today."

The white haired woman chuckles. "Didyme, mia cara, don't scare your brother's mate away just yet."

"Baby I'm not scaring her," she insists. From the way that they spoke to each other, I could clearly piece together that they were mates. "Can you get the hairbrush and the mirror I hid from Caius?"

"Why did you have to hide a mirror from him?" The two of them laugh at my question, with the white haired woman running off to go find said mirror.

"He hates them so much that any one he sees he punches and ruins. He's never told us why, but we hide them all to make sure that he doesn't get upset. Aro enforces the rule and wont do anything about it. Something must have happened, but I just don't question it. Better to have a happy Caius than an upset Caius," Didyme explains as her mate comes back with the hairbrush and mirror. "Thanks, Dora."

"So you're Athenodora," I realize, "Caius' friend."

"His oldest friend," she adds, kissing her mate on the cheek before sitting down on one of the many cushioned chairs. "Sulpicia, Didyme, and I share a nest and chambers. How people don't figure us out is beyond me. Our species is not that much smarter than humanity as a whole. Yeah, we remember what we see, but do we put the pieces together? No."

"Figure you out?" I didn't quite understand what she meant by it.

"Well, humans don't like homosexual couples anymore. Stupid thinking considering that my beautiful mates are my _soulmates_ , but we've had to hide our sexuality from the world for some time now. Things are getting better, so we may come out of hiding soon. My friend and his mates are also in hiding," I nod in understanding. Things were changing, but not fast enough.

"They're in love, what does it matter?" Didyme rolls her eyes before starting in on my hair.

That was the real question.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:
> 
> Penso che adorerai quello che abbiamo pianificato per te. I think you'll love what we have planned for you.
> 
> Da quanto tempo lo pianifichi? How long have you been planning this?
> 
> Fammi vedere! Let me see!
> 
> Non essere arrabbiato con me. La prossima volta non sarò così avventato. Do not be upset with me. I shall not be so rash next time.
> 
> Shh, va tutto bene, mio caro amico. Non sono arrabbiato, non c'è bisogno di preoccuparsi. Ti voglio bene Marcus. Shh, it's okay my darling mate. I am not upset, there is no need to worry yourself. I love you Marcus.
> 
> Per favore mia cara, non litigare con noi su questo. Non ci auguriamo altro che la tua felicità e sicurezza. I tuoi cugini potrebbero essere pericolosi e non possiamo metterti con noncuranza in modo dannoso, anche se vuoi vederli. Please my darling, don't fight with us on this. We wish for nothing but your happiness and safety. Your cousins could be dangerous and we cannot carelessly put you in harms way, even if you want to see them.
> 
> Πού είναι οι φύλακες? Where are the guards?
> 
> αγαπητός. Dear

**Aro, Caius, and Marcus had,** according to Didyme, planned something for me. Whatever they had planned slipped by my mind. No clues or hints were littered in our morning conversation, or in the heart-to-heart we had the night before. In all ways I had been left in the dark.

Finding myself in a shimmering gold dress that my mate's younger sister had dressed me in, I had been left to my own devices inside the castle. Nobody had exactly come back to pick me up, meaning that I would have to find my way around the twisting corridors of the ancient place.

The midnight shoes on my feet clack as I strolled down the many hallways, making a little too much noise as I tried to find my mates. Seemingly no guards were posted around, the people I would usually ask for help finding my way. Struggle as I may, upon turning down the right hall for the third time that hour I found Aro, who chuckled when I bumped into him.

"That dress," he takes a second to look at the overly fancy piece of clothing, "looks divine."

"Aro!" I heard Caius' voice as he sped down the hall, his cloak following behind him like a lost puppy. "Cara mia, we have been looking everywhere for you. How long have you been out of the towers?"

"A few hours," my blonde mate hissed at my answer, moving to my side. "There weren't any guards around to redirect me. This place is huge."

My mate hissed again before looking behind him, where a group of Volturi guards were coming to their posts. "Why are you late? Newborn training doesn't take multiple hours! I don't want to ever hear from my _human mate_ that you weren't at your posts! What would have happened if she were attacked? You-" I shushed him, not wanting the angry vampire to yell at any of his covenmates. Yes, he was likely right, but at the same time voicing that anger would do more harm than good. "Mia cara-"

"Please just leave it alone," I plead with him, looking at the terrified guards down the hall. "What is done is done. I'm safe and I found you all."

He huffed before suddenly picking me up in his arms, making me squirm in protest. "Now I can show you to our date, mia bellissima regina. Penso che adorerai quello che abbiamo pianificato per te."

"Da quanto tempo lo pianifichi?" Caius clicks his tongue and shakes his head. "Are you going to keep such a silly thing a secret?"

"It's not silly," he mutters under his breath.

"Our first date will not be silly, tesoro," Marcus came up behind me and kissed my cheek, the gesture turning my face carmine. "You really are the cutest little thing. You react to every little thing we do."

"I am not little," I deny, turning my head away from him in defiance. _Little, I am nowhere near little. I am of average height for an Greek woman. Maybe a little smaller, but I'm not petite._

"You are wrong, mia regina, you are very small for a human. Even most vampire women are taller. We can wrap you up and throw you around like a feather," I gasp at the thought. Throwing me around? Who did they think they were? "Human women are so much different. Your little face as you sleep is simply _adorable_. I wish I could watch you sleep all day, but I have my duties to attend to."

"Duties," Caius huffs, "When do you ever do those duties of yours? For the past two thousand years you've been too busy brooding over Astraea's arrival to do any of your paperwork."

"Hush," he silences our mate, stepping ahead of us on our travel to wherever this _date_ was going to be. "I have waited for a long time, but that does not mean I have been unable to finish most of my daily tasks. I do not brood, amore, simply dwell on what is to come. It has been a long wait."

"That is the definition of brooding," Caius retorts, pressing me further into his chest, almost blocking my view of the world around me. Looking up, I see my mate's face staring down at me with care. "Are you comfortable, la mia amica del cuore?"

"Sì." He nods before forcefully closing my eyes. I whine and try to open them back up, but he keeps them closed. "Fammi vedere!"

My blonde mate refused, holding his arms tight around my much smaller body and face. I let out another whine before I felt a rush of wind run through my hair and body. My heart drops in my chest as my stomach churns uncomfortably. What could only be described as motion sickness flew through my head as I wanted to get down and fall over, the only thing supporting me being Caius' strong arms.

Finally allowing me to see the world around us, I open up my eyes and see what my mates had set up. _A picnic. They... they don't eat anything but they brought me food. What did I do to get three perfect men willing to do this for me?_

"Come now, i miei amori," Rushing over to the tree where they set up the picnic, Aro brings out some of the food for me. I could feel Caius' smile as he ran over using his vampire speed, setting me down on the silk towel that they set out.Right beside me, Marcus got out more food and placed it in a bowl. The focaccia was plain, but Caius made sure that he gave me some of the spreadings. Things like garlic spread and hummus were available, the best quality I had ever seen.

Taking a bite of some focaccia that I had laced with garlic and sharp white cheddar, I moan at the taste. The mixtures of flavors were like heaven to me. Never in my life had I been able to have so much food at my disposal, with most of our meals being plain and unspiced leftovers from the neighbors. My cousins and I would no longer have to struggle to find decent food in the cities or our classes.

Classes... _I stopped my classes! I haven't been to school in four days! Oh lord, they must be looking for me now. Even if uncle told them that I was out sick they would start asking questions. God knows Madam Lucia hates absences. If I am here with my cousins, there will be no way for me to complete my basic education. By Saturday I will have missed a full week. Six days of schooling is a lot. Who knows if I have tests or-_

My thoughts were cut off by Aro, who seemed to know that I was in frantic thought. "Is something wrong, cara?"

"School," he sighs, knowing where I was going with this. I was supposed to be in school for the next _two years_. How would I do that in the Volturi castle? "I have to be at school. Our teachers will be wondering where we are. Ambrose and Astro as well. Their absence will be noticed by their friends."

Marcus hummed, tapping his slender fingers against one of the baskets of food. "They are both fifteen years old, are they not?" I nod. "I think it would be best for them to finish their education here. You can as well if that is what you would wish to do. As newborns they will not be in control of their bloodlust like elder vampires and will need to be closely monitored in the presence of any human."

"Do you think I will be able to see them soon?" Caius tenses beside me, looking into the distance. _I want to see my family..._

"They just woke up from their transformation, cara, I think it's unwise to have them in your presence while they are untrained and potentially dangerous," I frown, understanding why I couldn't see them but still longing for some time with my younger cousins. It had been almost a week since I had seen them last. The longest we had been without each other was eleven days and that was only because they were on a field trip. "The only way that I would allow such a thing would be if all of us and the elite guard are there."

" _Marcus_ ," Caius seethes, clearly not happy with the idea of two newborn vampires being near his very human and very precious mate. "Don't go around making promises like that! We must keep her safe!"

"Do you really think that I would let our mate get hurt?" He questions, hurt by the very idea of my theoretical injury. "Astraea needs to be with her family as well as us when our bonds are growing. She should not be cut off from those who she loves dearly."

"It is a matter of _safety_ ," I watch as the two of them go at it.

"She shall be safe in our presence!"

"Not with a newborn!"

"I would never allow her to be hurt!"

"She could be _bitten_!"

"We can restrain any newborn vampire that even thinks of harming her!"

"They are stronger-"

"We are over three thousand years old, we can handle two newborns! The elite guard have taken out armies of them in the past!"

"I will not-" Aro cuts off their argument with a firm hand and voice.

"This is not helping," he states, looking at our mates, "Do not argue in our mate's presence. _Be civil_. We are not savages and we shall not speak to each other with such tones, do you understand?"

"Mi dispiace amore mio," Marcus apologizes first, looking down at the grass below his feet. "Non essere arrabbiato con me. La prossima volta non sarò così avventato."

Aro hurried over to our mate's side before kissing his cheek and his head. "Shh, va tutto bene, mio caro amico. Non sono arrabbiato, non c'è bisogno di preoccuparsi. Ti voglio bene Marcus."

"Ti amo," he whispered, accepting the reassurances from Aro. "M' sorry Caius."

"It's okay," Caius accepted his apology before kissing his lips, pulling him in close. It only lasted a few seconds, with the brown-haired king pulling away. Caius growled at the lack of contact and pulled Marcus down to the ground, forcibly cuddling with him, which Marcus didn't seem to mind that much, wrapping his arms around our mate and purring.

"You two are so cute," Aro cooed, rushing over to meet them in the newly formed cuddle pile. "Join us, Astraea."

Giggling, I do as he says, flopping down and joining them in the cuddle pile.

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **Nearly forty minutes went by** before one of us got up. Marcus was the first to move around, with my head resting on his right shoulder and Caius' on his lap. All huddled on top of each other, his departure meant that we all groaned and tried to not fall onto the grass or blanket below us, knowing that neither were particularly clean surfaces for our faces.

Not acknowledging our discomfort with our new seating situation, Marcus grabbed his phone from the grass and looked down at the screen. What he saw remained unknown to me, as I was not in a position to see what was on it for myself. All I could hear was Marcus' small gasp as he stared down at the bluish white tinted screen.

"What is it, caro?" Aro questions, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Today is a Thursday and we don't have anything to do."

"Not that," he mutters, typing furiously. The mates still clinging onto my body sigh and nuzzle themselves further into me, giving almost no room to breathe. "So about those cousins of yours..."

"Are they okay?" my mate nods, but looks awkwardly down at his phone in hand, almost looking over to truly make sure he was giving me accurate information. "If they've woken up, has something happened? Please, Marcus, I have to know if my baby cousins are okay-"

"They're fine, my dear," he calms my anxieties, giving me a half-hearted smile. "I promise, they're okay. There have been a few _developments_ that have taken place with them. Nothing bad, actually very good, but they are things that we must take a look at."

Both of the other kings looked quite confused at his cryptic language. _Looking at what? The only thing that either of them have that is out of the ordinary are birthmarks on the middle of their backs. Matching, obviously. What more could happen with them? Good lord, they must have gotten in trouble already. Started a fight or something. Ambrose never was very good with new people, let alone vampires he doesn't trust yet. Astro must be freaking out now that he's been turned. He was always a bit terrified by the idea of vampires._

"You make it sound like they've done something illegal," Caius muttered under his breath, starting to shuffle around on the picnic towel. "Spit it out already."

"It seems that Ambrose and Astro Angelos have found their mates."

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **"I will see them whether** you want me to or not!" I exclaim, trying to claw my way out of Aro's grip as he held me back from running into the guard's room to try and find my two cousins. Marcus couldn't drop a bomb on me like that and expect me to not question whoever these mates were and make sure that they knew that if they messed with my cousins' feelings they would feel my wrath.

Holding me to his chest, my mate attempted to keep his arms wrapped around me, which failed after I kicked his leg and let out a feral hiss when my foot started to hurt. God, his skin was like real stone. If I had kicked him any harder I would have broken or at least sprained my toe. Possibly worse, my legs were sore after fighting him off of me.

"Per favore mia cara, non litigare con noi su questo. Non ci auguriamo altro che la tua felicità e sicurezza. I tuoi cugini potrebbero essere pericolosi e non possiamo metterti con noncuranza in modo dannoso, anche se vuoi vederli," Aro pleaded with me. My distressed self did not listen, moving away from him and walking closer to the guard's meeting area. There was nothing that Aro could say or do that would stop me from seeing my family. No matter if they were my mates, I would be seeing Ambrose and Astro _today._

"Where are the guards?" I turn back to ask my raven-haired mate, who lets out a low hiss, not wanting to answer my question. "I'll ask you very clearly: _Πού είναι οι φύλακες_?"

"I can't let you be hurt-" I cut him off with one finger pointed at him.

"Then you will come with me to see them! Do not take me from my family or you will regret it, Aro," he gulps but still nods. My fury was not something to be taken lightly. Once I had my mind set, there was nobody or anything that would be holding me back from getting what I wanted. "Show me to where they are."

"Ask nicely, αγαπητός," being reminded of basic manners would not do me any good. "Come with me, they are down the hall. Please stay by me and do not, under any circumstances, hug them when you set your eyes on them. Human contact is not what they need right now. Even if they love you, they can and will harm you if they get your scent in their heads."

Making our way down the old corridors, many guards turned to us. My annoyed expression was obvious. There was nothing to hide. I was much too upset with the fact that my mate tried to keep me from my cousins by physically holding me back to smile or wave at the guards like I would normally.

When we reached a door, one guard posted outside gave Aro a nervous look. My mate turned to me and opened the door right up. The guard now understanding what had gone on didn't make any protest, allowing his leader to go inside.

Inside was a familiar air of calm that the entire castle held, only slightly different from my mates and I's room. Smelling of old stones and tempting mint, the largest room in the ancient Italian building had quite a few vampires huddled inside, chatting with each other before noticing us and turning to face Aro and I. The instant turn was what scared me the most. First happy and talking away with one another and in a blink of an eye they became cold guards with little discernible personality. I couldn't tell if they acted this way because my mates forced them to or if this was just how vampires acted in front of their coven leaders.

"The kings," one of them whispered to someone. Once they turned around I could recognize Astro, who was sitting next to a teenage looking blonde girl with the same red eyes as everyone else. My cousin looked up at me and smiled before turning his attention to my mates. He looked like he instantly regretted everything he had ever done in his life, his head turning down to the floor.

"Master, what is it that you and your mate need?" she asked politely, meeting Aro's gaze. She was much less _terrified_ than the rest of the guards around her, even willing to look my mate directly in the eye as she spoke.

"Astraea wanted to see her cousins. There was nothing I could do to stop her so I thought it best that I watch over the situation since Ambrose and Astro are _newborns_ ," he seethed the word and wrapped his arms around me protectively. Coming out from one of the areas of the section of the castle, Ambrose found his way into the room, almost strutting. "Especially since they have found their mates."

"Wait a minute," Ambrose muttered, looking at me and then looking at Aro. "What are you doing with my dear older cousin?"

Many of the guards in the room hissed at his comment. _Lord don't make him upset. He's a king and if you get him riled up I have no clue what he'll do. Don't make me cover for you for the rest of eternity. That temper of yours is going to get you strung up on a wall somewhere._

"Your _cousin_ is my _mate_ ," I could tell that Aro was trying to hold himself back from doing something to Ambrose that would upset me. "And I am your _king_ , show some respect."

"Sedens placere," said a very tall man, motioning for my cousin to sit next to him and a much smaller, but still quite large man. "I am sorry for my mate's rudeness, master, he must not be used to the newborn emotions yet."

"He's lucky he's my mate's cousin is what he must be," Aro snarks before making his way over to my cousin. "I will allow you and your twin time with my mate as long as your mates are willing to hold you back from accidentally killing Astraea due to your _bloodlust._ I will be there as well to oversee this meeting and I will not allow any disrespect on either side."

"Of course," he answers back, voice shaking as he scrunches back into the wall.

"Aro," I called him back, seeing just how terrified my cousin was of him as he _asserted dominance_. _Are all vampires like this? Or is it just the men? You know what, it may just be the men. Do vampires have hormones? If they're dead then how do they even move? Their brains must be functioning on some level. Oh well, guess we'll never know because I'm too lazy to ask._ "Don't scare my cousins with your titles. Ambrose, Astro, we're going. Whoever your mates are can come along as well."

The blonde girl and a boy that looked about the same age as her stood up right next to Astro. _So he also has multiple mates. Wonder if that's normal or genetic. Can that sort of thing pass through family lines? Would be cool if it did._

Men much taller than myself stood next to Ambrose, who sighed and looked back to me standing there.

"Don't worry, Felix isn't scary once you get to know him," the blonde girl snarked.

"What are you talking about, Jane? I'm as horrifying as you," his voice was deeper than I expected, with a slight raise when he said her name. "Alec's the damn teddy bear of the elite guard."

"Am not," the younger looking boy denied, holding onto Astro. "I'll knock you out."

"For later, Alec," Aro tutted, opening the door behind him. "Gifts are for the courtroom and training, not for silly rivalries."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:
> 
> Sembra già stupendo, amore mio. It looks gorgeous already, my love.
> 
> la nostra bellezza. Our beauty. 
> 
> Il mio bellissimo re. My beautiful king.

**Standing at the edge of the** same pond that I had sobbed in front of the day prior, our small group had found ourselves outside. Seeing as the air would make being near a human much easier, I let myself feel the breeze run through my hair and across my face.

"So, we have a lot to discuss," Aro starts, watching as Marcus and Caius made their way over to where we were, holding hands as they did so. My raven-haired mate smiles and kisses Caius on the cheek before starting back up again. "Not only do we have the added difficulties of you two being newborns, but we also will have to figure out a plan for your education since you are barred from being near any large group of humans until you have finished your newborn stage of vampire life. This is just for the safety of all vampires. Newborns such as yourselves have little control when you come into contact with human blood and could slaughter the entire classroom if there were an accident."

My cousins looked at each other before looking over to me, awkwardly smiling at my mate's presumptions about their ability to control themselves around a human like me. Not speaking up, they stay quiet and stay away from me, never getting closer than ten feet away from myself.

Caius and Marcus now standing next to me, I watch as Jane tries to make her way over to me, causing both kings to let out a string of angry hisses. The young girl cowers in fear and stays just as far away from me as her mate, not willing to cause her kings any more upset. Their angry hissing was enough to send chills down my own spine.

"Now, now, I miei amori, let us not hiss at our elite guard and scare la nostra bella Astraea. Guard, stay where you are, I suspect that the new bond is what has made my mates so _territorial_ in ways they would not normally be," Aro sent our mates a reprimanding stare before turning back to the guard members, "Your mates are, as we have already found out, the younger identical twin cousins of the one true queen of the Volturi. What this shall entail is up to them, but they are royal through this bond. The four of you have always been higher than the rest of the guard due to your gifted abilities, but now, through Astro and Ambrose, you have also become a royal."

"What are we, my king?" Felix asked politely, not meeting Aro's gaze as he spoke.

"Titles other than ours have been deemed unnecessary throughout the years, but with the growing vampire population we will need more and more Volturi members to bring justice and peace in our secret world. To announce you as something higher than a guard right now may shock the world, so I think it would be best to deem you a Royal Guard here first and wait a few years, perhaps a decade, before telling the rest of our world of your esteemed status," my cousins' mates looked at each other before finally meeting Aro's gaze.

"Our mate is still human and will need extra protection. While Aro has Renata to guard him more personally, the rest of us have no guards other than the lower ones outside of our doors. I am certain that if push came to shove we would be able to protect Astraea, but it would put us at ease to know that a select amount of trusted and powerful guards were protecting her while we are at trial during the day," Marcus explained, his arms wrapped firmly around my waist, pulling me closer to his chest as he spoke.

"What of our mates, my king?" Alec asked Marcus.

"Both Ambrose and Astro will not be Royal Guards until they are out of the newborn stage and gain the ability to control themselves around humans and blood. Have the two of them shown any signs of being gifted? I know that those from the Angelos family have a much higher rate of becoming gifted than any other line of human beings, only being bested by those from the magical world," Alec looked over to his mate, who looked at his hands. "Many signs of being gifted are simply spewing out your gift or using it without control. I have found that with my own gift, triggering abilities as a newborn is often accidental and could be very dangerous in combat and training."

"My brother woke up before anyone came to check in on us this morning and when Santiago came in he pushed him into the wall. He was still on the bed," Astro outed his brother's gift and Ambrose let out a low hiss. My mates all hummed, thinking of what they could say about this development.

"What did it look like he was doing?" Aro asked, looking my cousin up and down, "A physical gift is much rarer than a mental one. Physicality is based more on genetics than mental ability."

"I think it was the air," Ambrose muttered.

"Aerokinesis," my mate tutted, "I have not yet seen someone manipulate the air around them. Have you been able to move the air since Santiago walked into the newborn room?"

"Not really," he said, "It didn't seem like that big of a deal. I thought I was dreaming."

"You will find that vampires are unable to sleep and henceforth unable to dream. Gifted vampires are quite hard to come by and are on the decline with bloodlines getting duller and less controlled in their ability to keep their gifted children safe. With all of the dangers of a modern world, I have found that even with a better vitality rate, gifted bloodlines have all but died out in favor of _normal people_. What a shame," Aro informs, moving to take a better look at him. "A powerful vampire for two of the most powerful vampire guards in the world. Your brother, has he shown any promise?"

"Not yet, but we will see," Ambrose snarked, smiling evilly at his twin, who glared at him in response.

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **We did get to see** the gift that Astro had found out he had. The two of them had found out that they shared one more thing in common, physical gifts that could bend the world around them. Gyrokenisis was what Aro deemed my cousin's gift to be, the ability to change and manipulate gravity, which he accidentally used to make himself float up to the ceiling during one of his trainings with the rest of the guard.

The rest of the world had not been notified about my existence, with only those annoying American vampires knowing of my mate bond with their kings. Not only did they know, but they would likely notify the rest of their coven of vampires. Whether or not the coven I had learned was placed in Forks, Washington, would become an issue for us remained unknown, but my mates insisted that their leader would not run against my ruling.

When asked about their coven leader, Caius shut down the conversation, directing his focus to what I wanted to eat for dinner. I had not pressed my mates further on the subject, seeing how frazzled my blonde mate had become at the mere mention of the unnamed vampire leader. Upsetting him would do me no good.

"Mia cara regina, what are you doing?" I cocked my head around to see none other than Marcus, who had a charming smile plastered on his comforting face. "Ah, are you looking for something in here? I doubt you would be able to reach, being so small."

"I am not small," I deny, looking up at the cabinets I was unable to reach, "Just trying to find paper and a pen. My uncle hasn't heard from me in a long time and I wouldn't want him to worry about me too much. He's often quite anxious."

Not saying anything back, my much taller mate simply opened up one of the mahogany drawers and handed me a piece of white paper and a ballpoint pen. "This should work for now. If you need any more, just ask us or one of the guards to help you, tesoro."

"Grazie."

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **Finding myself lying down on** the bed, the same bed that I had been lying on for the past three hours, I allowed myself to feel the keen sting of procrastination. It wasn't that I didn't want to write the letter, it was finding the way to express what had happened in its entirety that had become an issue.

Wielding the pen in my hand, I cracked down on the anxiety that plagued my brain and started to write whatever I could down.

_Dear Uncle,_

_While these past few days have been most hectic, I hope that my absence has not plagued your mind. I am safe and sound in the clocktower, which I now know is the home of the Volturi, a vampire coven. I understand now why you did not want us venturing out into this area, but I had no choice._

_When I first came into contact with that rogue vampire, I had no clue that the experience would change my life the way it has. Astro and Ambrose have put off writing to you out of fear that you will either disown them or hate them for what they became. I implore you to still care about your sons as vampires just as you did when they were human. Nothing would make them happier in these trying times of their lives._

_Both Ambrose and Astro have changed physically, but they are still the same boys you raised. The two of them have found their mates in their immortal lives._

_Jane and Alec, a set of fraternal twins, are mated to Astro. No, the twins are not together as well, they share a soul sibling bond as well as a biological bond._

_Demetri and Felix are mated to Ambrose. For them, it is a three way mate bond in which all parties are mated to each other, unlike Astro and his mates._

_For myself, I have also found my mate bonds. I think you will recognize the names of your employer's employers. Aro, Caius, and Marcus Volturi are my mates. From the times that I have spent with them I can say that all three of them are just as devoted to me as I am devoted to them. I won't waste your time with the sappy romantic things that they do for me on a daily basis, but I will say that the three of them will do whatever it takes to win you over and win my heart, which is already theirs._

_Terrible things have led to much better outcomes. With our departure from the house you will finally be able to gain an office area. Auntie will also be able to have a room for her precious carnations now that my room has become vacant. No longer will you have to worry about us being fed, as the castle has all of the food we could ever want or need. Although Ambrose and Astro will be having a new diet, I am still very much a human being who eats normal human food thrice daily._

_I hope that even when we are gone that you will find time to think about us. I know that I will be thinking about you during my time spent here._

_With all my care,_

_Astraea Angelos_

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆  
 **"What has my sister given** you to wear today, amore?" I whipped my head around only to see Aro, who had placed his comforting hands on my shoulders, lightly pressing a kiss to my head. My light green dress was tight around my curves, a nice and snug fit. A pair of white flats had found their way onto my feet, courtesy of Didyme Volturi.

"You should know her style after being near her for so long," I reply, walking a little bit farther, only to find myself inside of a large greenhouse. "I didn't know that vampires liked to garden in their free time. This has a larger selection than the local nursery as well. How long has it been here?"

"Much longer than I would like to admit, although only our coven members are allowed inside to see its beauty. Quite a few vampires like to tend to the weeds as a way to pass the time, as immortality can get boring after a while," his voice was hushed, deep and scholarly, as he ushered me into the largest room.

Petite Willows and Laurel bushes lined the sides of the greenhouse, blocking out some of the light that would have, under any other circumstance, shine down and cause any vampire's skin to shimmer. On the sides I could identify three types of flowers: Amaryllis', Hydrangeas, and Dahlias. The ceiling of the gorgeous room held purple Wisteria, which sucked up most of the light in the area.

"I have found that this greenhouse is one of my favorite rooms, only topped by our music and art rooms," my mate admitted, looking out to the many different types of beautiful flowers that were thriving under the Italian summer sun. "What would you like to do today, αγάπη μου?"

Looking at my mate with a smile on my face, I step a bit closer to some of the many flowers inside of the greenhouse. "I'll do whatever you want to do. I'm not very picky and I don't have any clue about any of the things we even _could_ do inside of this castle."

My much taller mate gave me a small smile and embraced me from behind. "How about I show you around the rooms of the castle? I don't think you've seen Caius' art rooms or my instruments. They will always be open for you to go inside."

"You have rooms for yourself?" He nods. "This place must be huge if it's supposed to fit multiple rooms filled with what you like to do. I don't think I've ever been to a place that has so many rooms in general. Our house only had a few rooms and we always shared our spaces."

"Never again will you have to share. Unless it has to do with our mates, you will have to get used to sharing them. Although it will be hard for us to share you between the three of us," I laughed and turned around, looking into his maroon eyes. "Your eyes, the perfect mix of light grey and electric blue. Caius will have a blast painting you. I believe that he will be pestering you about that soon, he wishes to paint every member of the Volturi once they join. You will find that our mate has an affinity for the colors of this world."

☆꧁___________________________꧂☆

 **The beaming sun shone down** on the art room that Aro had led me to, allowing the many paintings inside to stand out. I had never seen such beauty. Not even the many museums in Sicily that we had visited during the summers could compare to what was standing right before me.

Paintings made with ancient oils were placed in grandiose gold frames, perfectly aligned with the theme of the room. All sketches that lined the walls were made with such precision that one would assume that they were actually photographs. Both black and gold could be seen throughout this room, with dashes of blues and reds contrasting the dark colors that were painted on old canvas.

Caius could be seen right by the windows, sitting down on a black cushion as he faced a canvas, palette in hand. Three major colors were already on this painting: silver, gold, and black. They seemed to be his favorites, or just the ones that he used most often by the looks of the paintings around the room.

"Mio caro," Aro croons as Caius finally put down his painting palette. Our blonde mate turned around, a small dash of gold staining his pale cheek, smiling as he saw us at the door frame. "Sembra già stupendo, amore mio."

"Grazie," Caius whispered, staying where he was in the room. Aro chuckled before taking my arm and walking me over to our mate, kissing Caius' non-painted cheek. "I didn't think I would be seeing you in here today. Do we not have any trials for the day or are you allowing Jane to handle them?"

"Justice has been served for the day, mio caro, Jane is spending more time with her mate just like la nostra bellezza and I," he glanced over at the other paintings in the room, "We must get more storage if you are to make such a masterpiece. They should be on display where others can enjoy their allure."

"You flatter me too much," Caius insists, looking over at his unfinished piece, "They are not as good as you presume."

"I disagree, Il mio amore, as you are the best painter in Italy. You don't give yourself enough credit for these works," our mate looks down at the ground, clearly not believing the raven king's praises of his artwork. "I was just showing Astraea around the castle and our favorite rooms. We shall leave you to your beautiful work. I wish to see it when it has been finished, or at any time, Il mio bellissimo re."

Giving my mate a kiss on the cheek, Aro and I left Caius to his painting, which he did with fervor as he picked back up his paints. Spraying the canvas with beautiful oils, I saw the eyes of the figure peek out, almost watching us as we made our way back into the hallway.

Walking together, we made our way into a new room, one of which I had also not seen before. This one was filled with assortments of musical instruments, all different and some even brightly colored.

Vintage guitars lined the edges of the room, with some violins intermixed between them. Right in the center of the large room was a black and gold marbleized grand piano, with a spotlight on the ceiling above it that held a royal feeling throughout the room. It was messier than the art room, or what could be considered an ancient and royal gallery, but it held its own sense of self as we moved further in.

"This is where I used to spend most of my time, but these days we have gotten so busy with the expansion of the vampire world that almost all of my free time is spent with my mates or in trial," Aro admits, looking at the slightly dusty guitar in the corner, "Although I can say that a vampire's skill sets do not fade with time like that of a human's. Our mates used to love for me to play for them when they got upset. Marcus especially, as music tends to calm him down the fastest, although reading to him will have a similar effect."

"The three of you all have things that you're good at," Aro chuckled and picked up one of his many violins, dusting it off. "Here I am, not skilled at much of anything."

"I don't believe that you aren't good at something," he claims, setting down the ancient violin on the ground. "There is nobody that has not gained a foothold in no skill, even children have things that they show great promise in. Even the most moronic of humans, and you are a clever woman. Plus, I know what you are good at already, so do not try to deflate your own accomplishments."

"I'm really not-" he cut me off.

"I figured you would deny it, but I think you forget that vampires have heightened senses. Our bathroom, while it is softened by our soundproofing, is a place where we can hear what is going on inside," I feel my face turn a bright red at his words, "We can all hear you sing in the shower, mia cara, and it is a heavenly noise indeed. I wish to hear it more often."

"You weren't supposed to listen!" was all I could exclaim as Aro laughed at my flustered expression. "It isn't funny! You aren't supposed to listen to what goes on while other people are in the shower! I could have been doing anything in there!"

"Don't fret, mia cara, we only listen on occasion. Did you not wonder why all of us were on the bed looking at the door as you walked out? That voice of yours, it's angelic," my face stayed a heated red as he placed a hand on my warm cheek, "Your talent is your voice, so rare and alluring just like that of a siren's call."

"I think Caius was right about your flattery," he huffed and embraced me in his slightly chilled arms. "I guess I will have to be more careful with my singing now that you've found me out."

"Please don't, it's the best music I've ever heard," I shook my head in denial. _Best music he's ever heard... Blatant lies._ "I wish to hear you sing to us more. It truly is beautiful."

"Only if you'll pay me in cuddles."


End file.
